


Sunrise

by lillyhemingway



Series: In Orbit [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Book 4: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Drama, F/M, Gen, Slow Burn, Teen Romance, Triwizard Tournament, Yule Ball (Harry Potter)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-06
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-16 22:56:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 31,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28589907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lillyhemingway/pseuds/lillyhemingway
Summary: Mia Diggory nervously awaits starting new at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in her fourth year. How will she navigate making new friends and fitting in at her new school?An early argument turns her against Slytherins, but she finds there's more than meets the eye at Hogwarts.Challenges follow her and her friends as they navigate the excitement of the Triwizard Tournament.Will she follow the Sunrise or will she dive into the deepest Dawn?
Series: In Orbit [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2094924





	1. The Letter

Mia sat across from Cedric on the floor, leaning back against the bed behind her in the home she had grown up in in Ottery St Catchpole. They had only been home for a few months now, but Mia hadn’t realised how much she had missed this house. She thought her memories to be faint of this place, as they had moved when she was young, but when she smelt the oak wood by the stone fireplace and felt the sun stream through her window on the carpet she liked to sprawl out on. The sun’s heat on her crossed legs was gradually lessening, the cold of the evening was settling in.

"It'll be so different," Cedric sighed. Mia was pulled out of her thoughts.

"Different can be good," Mia replied, tucking her hair behind her ear.

Cedric was looking out the window, the sky was growing darker and the tiny bright lights of the stars were resurfacing in preparation for another night. She was irritated that Cedric didn’t share her enthusiasm. She had barely thought of anything else since her father announced that they would be returning to England, indefinitely.

"Don't you like travelling? Don't you miss Romania?," Cedric asked.

"Of course I do," Mia sighed "But this is our chance for something new, something more … stable, I guess. We can stay at the same school for longer than a few months. We can even make friends!".

"We have plenty of friends, Mia", Cedric didn’t quite catch her eye as he said this.

"Not that we see them a lot," Mia grumbled, quietly.

Their father's job in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures took them around the world, which Mia loved. She loved the sights and the adventure. She loved meeting new people, and exploring how they lived. But she longed for a home, much more permanent than the one she had in Romania. She loved this house, it reminded her of Cedric teaching her how to fly and the music her parents played from the radio flowing throughout the house on a warm spring day.

Her father, Amos, had now been promoted and that promotion meant he would have to continue working from London. While Cedric adored his father and was content to follow him, he wasn't looking forward to going to Hogwarts as much as Mia was.

"It's fine to be nervous, Ced".

"I'm not".

"Okay then".

A long pause filled the space between them.

Mia was feeding treats to their family owl, Ivy, who was hooting happily.

"I'll be the only person starting new in their sixth year, Mia" Cedric burst out, as though he had been holding it in for a while.

"You think they'll be many people starting new in fourth year?", Mia replied.

"You have nothing to worry about, Cedric. You make friends everywhere you go", she said, in a softer voice. His anxiety was evident, and it quelled her frustration at his demeanor.

"I guess so", Cedric sighed, fiddling nervously with a corner of the Hogwarts envelope their letters had arrived in.

"Worst comes to worst, you'll have me", Mia added as an afterthought.

Cedric chuckled. The light on the horizon outside started to lose some of its glow, night was settling in.

"So, are you excited for tomorrow?", he asked.

"Are you kidding? Quidditch World Cup! I can't wait”.

Despite their exhaustive travels, they had never been to see the World Cup, finding themselves either in the wrong place or simply too busy.

"Dad said that he would introduce us to a bloke from work. His kids go to Hogwarts apparently. He's got like seven of them", Cedric said, staring out of the window, the yellowed envelope wrinkled in his fist.

"Christ, I couldn't imagine having to deal with 5 more of you".

She shot him a mischievous grin.

"Hey!", Cedric chucked the balled up envelope across at Mia, hitting her square in the face. Laughing, Mia picked the ball up and tried to hit him back, but missed.

Cedric stood up, still chuckling.

"Better get some sleep, Dad will have us up ridiculously early tomorrow I bet", he said as he walked towards the door.

"Deal", Mia said, with a smile.


	2. The Manky Old Boot

It was early morning when Cedric shook Mia awake. It must have been dark outside, the only light in the room was flooding in from under the door. 

"C'mon", he whispered, sleepily dragging his feet on the carpet. 

"Mmm", Mia groaned, keeping her eyes closed.

"C'mon you’re late, Dad's making some food but we have to go soon", Cedric said, walking towards the door. 

Mia sleepily got up, barely opening her eyes and got dressed into an outfit she had laid out last night. The idea of a Muggle dress code had little effect on Mia’s ability to dress appropriately. Unlike most wizards, they had many years of experience, travelling frequently to different Muggle cities and fitting in with the people there.

The smell of cooking bacon wafted into the room, and Mia made her way to the kitchen, still yawning. The three of them hardly spoke through breakfast, each stretching and yawning, barely awake. They tried to stay quiet, her mother was still asleep. She couldn’t have cared less about the World Cup, completely believing that she should never have to wake up early for something as _boring_ as quidditch. 

Mia put her sneakers on, grabbed one of the bags they had already packed and soon after they were headed up Stoatshead Hill. 

"Mr. Weasley's son, Ron, will be in your year, Mia", Amos stated. "Won't it be nice to meet some people before you get to school?". 

"Definitely, Dad", Mia replied, giving him a warm smile. She knew he felt bad for keeping them from Hogwarts all these years. Their childhood had been erratic, but unique and exciting and one that Mia wouldn’t have given up for the world. 

Amos sighed contentedly, and they continued trudging up the hill, their hands freezing despite the many layers they were wearing. Mia’s hands shivered in her gloves and she shoved them in her pockets. 

"Alright, keep a look out for the Portkey. I heard from Fawcett that it should be a boot", Amos said, looking around. 

They spread out for about a minute, before Cedric reappeared holding a moldy-looking old boot. He held it far out from his body, his face clearly indicating a rough smell emanating from the boot that Mia soon came into contact with. 

"Could this be it?", Cedric asked, dismayed.

"Perfect, son!", Amos replied. "Now we just have to wait for the Weasleys". 

It didn't take long, however, for the Weasleys to appear. A group of seven appeared over the hill, mostly redheaded, except for two. Mia smiled as their barely awake, yet excited faces came into view.

"Amos!", The redheaded man, who Mia assumed was Mr. Weasley, shouted happily. 

"All these yours, Arthur?", Amos asked, peering around at all the kids. 

"Oh no, only the redheads”, Mr. Weasley pointed them out. "This is Hermione, friend of Ron's - and Harry, another friend-". 

"Merlin's beard", Amos gasped. "Harry? Harry _Potter?_ ".

"Er - yeah", Harry said awkwardly.

"Dad...", Mia said quietly, but pointedly, tugging at his sleeve.

While she was quietly excited to meet the boy who conquered He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, she felt bad for Harry. People must have been gawking at him, wherever he went for his whole life. She tried to make a point of looking at everyone else _except_ him, and then worried he might think she was arrogantly ignoring him. She settled on staring at the grass between them. 

"Oh yes, yes", Amos replied absent-mindedly. "These are my children, of course. They'll be starting Hogwarts this year. Mia and Cedric. Mia will be in your year, Harry!".

Mia looked up and smiled nervously at Harry, who no longer seemed uncomfortable. He returned a smile, and she looked around at the others. Hermione looked the most excited of them all, kindness etched in her face. She pulled away, however, to rummage through her backpack in what looked like a last ditch attempt to organise the multitude of items piled inside it. With a confused glance, Mia realised it seemed to include quite a few books. 

"Must be nearly time", Mr Weasley said. "We'd better get ready".

They huddled around the old boot, Mia moving next to Hermione, almost immediately feeling comfortable in her presence. She thought she saw the young Weasley girl look excitedly over at Cedric, and move closer to him. 

"So, Hogwarts this year?", Hermione asked Mia. 

"Yes! It'll be my first year at a proper school, so I'm really excited", Mia smiled. 

"You'll love it," Hermione said. "Hopefully you're in Gryffindor. I would really love to have a girl helping to balance out dealing with _these_ ”, she almost whispered, gesturing to Ron and Harry, who were standing nearby. 

"Hey!", Ron exclaimed, throwing his hands up. Mia grinned. 

"It's almost ready", Mr. Weasley interrupted, "Grab onto the Portkey". 

Mia reached out and held onto the old boot. The smell still made her wrinkle her nose, but she had gotten slightly used to it by now. She looked up, grinning at how confused Harry and Hermione looked. 

A quick twisting jerk rocked through her body, and her feet left the floor. The Portkey kept spinning them around, and their shoulders hit into each other. Her feet hit the ground, and she stood up shakily.

"Seven past five from Stoatshead Hill", said a voice overhead. 

  
  



	3. The Quidditch World Cup

Mia exhaled and looked around. Hermione was busy trying to unruffle her clothes and straightened herself up. Brushing off the debris that stuck to her from the fall, she managed to reorient herself before leading a steady march away from the scene of disarray in a huff. 

Mr. Weasley and Amos were talking to another two wizards, who had attempted horribly to dress as Muggles. Mia wasn't sure whether to laugh or not, and compensated by sharing a suppressed smile with one of the Weasley twins, who introduced himself as George, and his brother as Fred. 

They walked across, heading towards a campsite in the distance. Mr. Weasley and Amos chatted happily at the front, while Fred, George, Cedric and Harry walked behind them, exchanging Quidditch theories. Cedric had this cool nature, he could fit in anywhere almost instantly. He was so sure of himself it almost made Mia jealous.

"Any idea what house you want to be in?", Hermione asked Mia, joining her behind the others.

"No idea, they all seem pretty cool - I’ll be happy to be in any of them", Mia replied. 

"Just as long as you're not in Slytherin”, Ron warned, grinning. “It’s no big deal, really, but if you are, we'll just never speak to you again".

"Oh come on, they're probably not all that bad", Hermione said, nudging him.

"Yeah, cause Millicent Bullstrode’s just  _ lovely. A real angel _ ”, he rolled his eyes. “Remember when Malfoy dressed up as a dementor to scare Harry into losing at Quidditch? When he called you a mudblood? When I ended up belching slugs for three hours?".

Mia laughed at the image of Ron belching slugs at the dinner table. His demeanor about the incident left her making a mental note to stay away from Millicent Bullstrode and Malfoy, whoever they were. 

"Okay that last one was your fault!", Hermione replied, "I'm just saying, let's not threaten her with no friends just if she ends up in Slytherin". 

"Hogwarts sounds like fun", Mia grinned. Despite the menacing nature of Ron’s stories, she longed to be included. 

Ginny shot her an answering grin, nudged her a little and sighed happily, “It's always interesting, that’s for sure”.

"Hermione's just a real trouble maker, always making life harder for the rest of us", Ron said playfully. Hermione and Ginny rolled their eyes at the same time.

"Somehow, I just can't see that", Mia giggled.

"To be fair, I did punch Malfoy in the face last year", Hermione sighed happily, as though looking back on a memory of her happiest Christmas. 

"He had it coming! And. It. Was.  _ Awesome _ ", Ron chuckled. "Harry! Wasn't it awesome when Hermione punched Malfoy?".

"What? Oh yeah!", Harry said, slowing down to join Ron. "Wicked.  _ Wellllll  _ deserved”. 

"If you're not busy today before the game, you should come down and hang out with us!", Hermione offered. "I'm sure you have heaps of questions about Hogwarts". 

"That would be great", Mia smiled. "I think we'll be in the campsite just across from yours". 

"Perfect, see you soon then!". 

"Bye!". 

As they went their separate ways, a chorus of ‘bye’s’ followed Cedric, Amos and Mia heading to their own campsite. Mia actually felt as confident as she had portrayed herself to be the night before, having met at least some friends she might have. 

“I might go spend the day with Hermione, but I’ll see you for the game tonight?”, Mia asked Cedric, hoping he wouldn’t feel abandoned.

Cedric grinned.

"I knew you'd be fine making friends. Go ahead! Dad wants to introduce me to some people from work, thinks I have a future in the Ministry", he said, rolling his eyes.

"Doesn't he know Cedric Diggory will grow to win the Quidditch World Cup one day?", she teased. 

"Back up plan is an office job in the Ministry now, apparently", he laughed. 

They found their way to the tent, and settled into each of their rooms. Mia went into Cedric's room and found him unpacking his bag. 

"Hey - make sure you don't let Dad take over all day. Quidditch World Cup is supposed to be fun".

"Deal", Cedric grinned. "It'll be fun tonight, at least”. 

"So, who do you think will win?", Mia asked.

"I'll bet you 2 galleons on Bulgaria", Cedric replied. "No one can beat Victor Krum". 

"2 galleons it is”, she grinned. “Luck of the Irish". 

**…..**

It was close to midday when Mia found Harry, Hermione and Ron walking past her camp to find water. 

Saying a quick farewell to Cedric, and a promise that she would return for dinner before the game to her father, she ran outside bringing her own kettle. Her father had already conjured water for them, but she thought it might look strange to the muggles to not have her kettle. 

The campsites were full of wizards from far and wide, wearing all sorts of weird muggle clothing.

Harry, Ron, Hermione and Mia talked and joked around while they walked. Mia got to hear some of their adventures and found herself desperately wishing to feel a part of an exciting and pleasant place such as Hogwarts. Now she knew not only to stay away from Malfoy and Milicent Bullstrode but also to avoid crossing Professor Snape at any cost. While Mia preferred to make her own mind up about people, she appreciated the warnings. 

Mia was able to share some of her own homeschooling adventures as part of her many travels, and they both groups found themselves in awe of each other’s experiences. Mia had just finished telling them about the time Cedric almost got kidnapped by a Romanian cult when she detected a change in the environment. 

"Er - is it just my eyes or has everything gone green?", Ron asked. 

"I guess we know where the Irish are camping", Mia laughed.

Shamrocks flooded the area. Green decorations were everywhere to be seen, and below the sky she could barely see anything that was simply not  _ Irish. _ Mia seemed to think she would never find her own camp again, when she suddenly heard a voice. 

"Harry! Ron! Hermione!". 

"Seamus! Dean!", Harry exclaimed. 

Two boys in muggle clothing were running towards them, one whose Irish accent was filling the air, and a taller one rushing to join. 

"Seamus and Dean are in our year, Gryffindor's too", Hermione explained to Mia, "This is Mia, she's starting this year at Hogwarts".

Both Seamus and Dean introduced themselves happily and Seamus’ mother began showing them the decorations on their tent. 

"Mia, right? I'm Dean", he said, extending a hand. 

Mia looked up at him. His face was slightly flushed, they must have been running around in the heat. He smiled, his eyes were kind. 

Mia took his hand. The warmth from his hand seemed to spread over her whole body. 

"Ireland fan, huh?", Mia grinned, looking at his very obvious Ireland-supporting attire.

"Can't be anything else around here. Might get murdered if I even mention Bulga-" 

"You'll be supporting Ireland, of course?", Seamus' mother shot at Dean and Mia accusatorily. 

"Of course, Mrs. Finnigan", Dean exclaimed, winking at Mia. 

Hermione assured Mrs. Finnigan that they were  _ all _ supporting Ireland, before the four of them set off to see where the Bulgarian camp was.

Seamus yelled out to their retreating backs and Dean gave Mia a quick wave. 

By the time they were on their way back, slowed down by the weight of the water they were carrying, Mia had already met more people than she bargained for. Hogwarts students seemed to fly out at them to say hello to Harry. Younger wizards and witches gawked as he walked by, but Harry was often so engrossed in conversation and jokes that he rarely noticed. The three were clearly excited for the night ahead, and the buzz in the air could be felt all around.

They dropped Mia off at her tent, waving goodbye and exchanging excited remarks about the upcoming game. Mia turned to walk back inside to see Cedric. He looked up at her from under a large hat he had clearly bought from the Bulgarian team tent. He held out an Irish scarf for her. Excitement rose up inside her and she couldn't help but grin. 

  
  



	4. Morsmordre

Although Mia wasn't an avid Quidditch supporter, even she had to admit that the game was  _ insanely  _ cool. The field was giant, and the seats continued further than her sights could follow. The harsh, icy winds cut into their faces, but it only heightened the feelings of excitement and anticipation. Tension mounted in the air, as Ireland hurtled passed Bulgaria in goal points but all eyes were on Krum, and as swiftly as he pulled into the dive, he was out, holding the glittering gold ball, face set in a frown. The arena was in loud and triumphant chaos so much so that Mia hardly heard her brothers disbelieving concession of defeat. Cedric groaned as he handed over 2 galleons to Mia, who was in shock. Unbelievably, Viktor Krum had ended up catching the snitch, but had Ireland won.

The three of them were chatting rapidly as they descended the stairs and tried to manage their way through the campsite. Trying to decide what was the highlight of the game, Cedric and his father spent their trip back bickering enjoyably. Mia laughed at their argument, reveling in the exhilaration of the night and trying to understand the songs the Irish were belting out. 

Despite the four rooms in their tent, Cedric and Mia both fell asleep on the couches discussing the game and her trip with Harry, Hermione and Ron well into the night. 

She was awoken roughly by her father, who was whispering urgently. 

"Hurry - Mia - Ced. Something's going on outside. We have to go".

"What's wrong?", Mia asked. She had fallen asleep in her clothes and so she just grabbed a jacket and threw one across at Cedric. 

"Death Eaters. Be quick, we have to get to safety". 

Mia felt the colour rush of her face. 

"Death Eaters? Here?", Cedric said, pulling on his jacket. 

"I'll have to go help the Ministry", Amos said. "Take care of each other. Get to the woods, and don't leave until I come to find you". 

And without another word, Amos ran out of the tent, wand in hand. 

Mia felt as though she should have said something to him, but no words came to her. Her hands shook and she looked at Cedric, who had already kicked into gear.

He grabbed Mia’s hand and ran after him, but once they had left Amos was no longer visible. 

"We have to get to the woods", Cedric repeated. "Hold onto me".

Holding onto Cedric's arm, Mia followed him. Their campsite was close to the woods, and it didn't take long for them to be deep in the middle of them. Dark and cold as it was, Mia didn't dare light her wand for fear of being caught. The two of them sat against a tree, shaking. She couldn't hear anyone around her but she wasn't sure they were alone either. The night continued on, and Mia's eyes started to close, despite how hard she tried to keep them upon.

Cedric nudged Mia silently and pointed to the distance, where a vast green entity was perched over the treetops. 

"The Dark Mark, Ced!", Mia exclaimed. 

"Shh…stop  _ yelling _ ", Cedric whispered. Seeing Mia’s concern, he said "It's going to be okay. It sounds like it's over".

It was close to an hour later when Amos finally found them in the woods. Mia ran into his arms, and he ushered them back to the campsite.

"Who was it, Dad?", Cedric asked. "Who cast the Dark Mark?".

"We're not sure. Seems like it was Mr. Crouch's house-elf", Amos seemed frightened at the very thought of it.

"A house-elf? They don’t even have wands!", Mia stated. "How could it be a house-elf?".

"It's just what the evidence suggests", her father shrugged. "Not for you to worry about, Mia". 

He led them back through the deserted campsite and back to their tent. They went back to their rooms to sleep before the early morning portkey, but Mia could hardly get some semblance of relaxation. Sleep evaded Mia, as thoughts swirled around her head, fear and worry growing inside her. 

Voldemort's sign was in the sky, for the first time in 13 years. He couldn't have returned. There was no way. He couldn't have returned. And her father. Her poor father would be in the Ministry, face to face with the threats of the Death Eaters. Concern rose and dread formed in her heart, and as much as she tried she couldn’t find an answer to her worries. 

At least she had Hogwarts, a place filled with excitement and prospects of the future. That was all the positive that she would focus on. And for now, that was enough. 

  
  



	5. The Hogwarts Express

Mia awoke early the morning of September 1st. Excitement rang through her chest as she dressed, although the dreary raining outside didn't reflect her mood. The cold breeze whipped branches against her window, so she dressed simply in a large jumper and jeans, leaving her new school robes in her trunk to change into on the train. 

She pounded on Cedric's door and ran down the stairs to make breakfast for the two. She walked past her father, who had his head in the fire and was clearly talking to someone. She decided not to mention the peculiarity of this and waltzed into the kitchen. Buttering her toast, she hummed happily. Amos retreated out of the fire, a slice of toast in his mouth. 

"Sorry, Mia. I'm going to have to go in to work early today. Your mother will take you to the station”, Amos said hurriedly. 

"What's wrong?", Mia asked. Worry about the Dark Mark lingered in her mind still.

"Just something with Mad-Eye Moody, no need to worry". 

He kissed her forehead and ran up to tell Cedric, leaving Mia to ponder whether or not she should have known who her father was talking about. As he flew back down the stairs, she handed him another slice of toast and his briefcase. 

Mia said goodbye and watched him leave before she dashed up the stairs herself to add the last touches to her trunk and lug it down. 

She paced nervously downstairs, waiting for Cedric. Her mother was a kind, calming presence in direct contrast to Mia’s frantic energy. 

"He'll be coming down soon, don't you worry'', she said soothingly as she made coffee, barely concealing her humour at Mia’s nervousness. They really were one and the same, mother and daughter.

Before long, Cedric was heaving their heavy trunks into their car and Mia was sitting anxiously in the back. The journey was long and they were all very silent throughout it, each of them clearly deep in thought. Trying to combat her nervousness, Mia started to make a mental list of all the things she wanted to do when she was at Hogwarts and before she knew it they had arrived at the station, automatically setting off a frenzy of emotion causing her stomach to clench in order to gain back some facet of control. 

King's Cross Station was familiar to Mia, in all its seasons, having been many times before. The day’s gloomy weather however, brought down buckets of rain making getting to the platform a challenge despite her familiarity. Walking between the solid barrier dividing platforms nine and ten was not so normal for her, but she passed with ease just behind her mother. Suddenly, a roar of delight came from behind them and a figure almost tackled Cedric. 

"Jake!", Cedric exclaimed.

Mia grinned as Jake wrapped an arm around Mia’s shoulders. His face was still full of mischievousness, and he was practically bounding at having found his old friends. 

Jake had lived close to them since they were born, but travelling made their relationship quite unstable. 

Cedric looked back at Mia, who was practically beaming. She had spent the last few weeks thinking of this day, and here it was. 

"See you after, Ced", she said,  as Cedric walked onto the train. 

Giving her mother a hug goodbye, a promise to keep well and to write at  _ least  _ once a week, Mia continued onto the Hogwarts Express, the gleaming scarlet steam engine enchanting her from her first glance. Just about to heave her luggage, Mia turned at the sound of someone calling her name.

"Mia! Mia!", Hermione was calling her. "Wait up!". 

She hurried over, Ron and Harry trailing behind her. They had already put their luggage into a compartment, so Harry helped Mia with hers before they all clambered into a free compartment. 

Mia had just managed to settle the butterflies in her stomach when Hermione startled her by shutting the compartment door with a firm snap. 

After attempting in vain to follow her new friends’ conversation, due to something that she had obviously missed while distracted, she finally caught something she knew. 

“Oh! I’ve read Hogwarts, A History too! Although I don’t know how helpful moving staircases will be when I’m trying to get to class”, Mia said with a frown, her doubts resurfacing.

Hermione was beaming at her, and retaliated to Ron’s derisive snort by elbowing him in the side. 

“We’ll be helping you, of course!”, Hermione enthused. 

“Unless she’s in Slytherin”, Ron muttered, earning another sharp elbow to the side. Mia caught Ron’s mischievous grin and rolled her eyes in return. 

“Ron’s just mad because he still gets lost on those stairs at least once a week”, Harry smirked. 

Ron opened his mouth, decided he’d been berated enough for today and closed it again. Hermione grinned, and began recounting the facts found in Hogwarts, A History. 

Mia felt content, and her thoughts drifted into daydreams as Hermione explained the intricacies of hiding magical schools from muggles. She tuned back in when her stomach grumbled, excusing herself she went to locate the infamous trolley that would certainly be laden with all sorts of sweets. 

She didn’t have to walk too far before she found the trolley, rattling along to the tune of the train. 

There was someone already waiting, rather impatiently toying with several gold coins in their hands for the woman to resurface from shuffling items on the second shelf. 

Mia looked up to find the boy's hair rivalled the colour of the white sandy beaches of Tahiti she’d seen when her father was relocated to deal with an escaped cluster of nifflers that were pilfering surrounding cities and had managed to elude local magical authorities. 

She snapped out of her train of thought as the boy raised an eyebrow at her dithering in the middle of the hallway, flushing red she moved the last few steps to stand alongside the trolley with the boy.

“So, who are you then?”, he asked in a tone that was so equally condescending and curious that Mia couldn’t quite decide whether or not to be offended. She started to feel as though she shouldn’t have left the safety of the compartment at all. 

Before she could even respond he was continuing, “you  _ must  _ be new I’ve not seen you before, although, I wouldn’t be surprised that someone of your” he paused, “ _ stature _ , would be overlooked”. 

Mia gaped at his cheek and straightened up to her full height intent on unleashing a tirade of insults about decorum, but the boy once again bowled over her attempts. 

“Only teasing Diggory, do find yourself a sense of humour”, he said, smirking. 

Still frozen from shock, she just looked on while he paid for his Chocolate Frog, opened it, and with a disinterested look at the enclosed card, tucked it into the front pocket of Mia’s own jeans. 

“For safekeeping”, he winked.

Only when he had disappeared through the compartment had she realised she hadn’t yet said anything to the patiently waiting woman at the trolley.

“Er, just a pumpkin pasty please”, Mia managed, still baffled by her encounter with the white-haired brat.

A small crowd was accumulating around the trolley, she noticed, to her surprise that she knew a few people in it. 

Grinning, Dean held out his collection of Cauldron cakes, and gestured her over to them.

“Hiya Mia!”, Seamus said, his voice muffled by a cake snatching another from Dean, the pile he was currently holding, steadily got smaller. 

Dean huffed out an exasperated laugh, “I would offer you a cake but I don’t think you’d enjoy it, they’ve got Seamus all over them”.

Mia laughed, relaxing after the strange encounter. 

“Yeah, I think I’ll give them a pass”.

Once ensconced in the compartment with five people, talking rapidly about the World Cup, Neville Longbottom having introduced himself with a stutter and a sweaty handshake, Mia decided she could safely pull out the card stuffed in the front pocket of her jeans. Hermione had buried herself in a book larger than her hair and was not likely to notice.

The photograph, of course, was gone although the name remained: Salazar Slytherin. She swallowed hard, as though she was angry at the card for its very existence. She hoped that it wasn’t a sign. 

Mia snapped her head up as the condescending voice she now recognised filtered through the doorway of the compartment. It was indeed connected to a smug face and white blonde hair. 

A litter of insults crawled out of the boys’ mouth who Mia now knew, unsurprisingly, was Malfoy, before he began nattering on about  _ entering a contest,  _ and the  _ Ministry  _ and  _ My God Weasley, you don’t know! _

The confusion Mia felt mounted until it was strewn across her face in furrowed eyebrows and a pursed mouth. She almost zoned out from a complete lack of understanding of the contents of the conversation. 

As he was wrapping up his performance, Malfoy caught sight of the card clutched protectively in Mia’s hands and surprise flashed across his face, as his eyes moved up to her expression. However, the mask of mocking superiority was replaced and he exited their compartment laughing, followed by his two overly large friends, who more resembled bodyguards. Mia hoped boys of their stature weren’t common at Hogwarts, she felt intimidated at the sight of them.

The atmosphere for the rest of the train ride was awkward as Ron’s anger had not subsided from Malfoy’s taunting and Mia was relieved when the Hogwarts Express finally stopped, doors opening to let in the cool night air that promised an escape. Although she hadn’t managed to say a single word to Malfoy yet, she could plainly see why Ron wasn’t a fan of him. 

The letter Mia and Cedric had gotten from Hogwarts mentioned that they would be required to wait on the platform to be collected by one Minerva McGonagall so they could be sorted into the houses that would be “their families” for their intended stay at Hogwarts. 

Nervously, Mia waved goodbye to Harry, Ron and Hermione and was left to fidget with her robes next to Cedric’s tall comforting presence. 

  
  



	6. The Sorting Hat

A tall formidable looking witch cloaked in green tartan framed by the image of a distant glowing castle made for an imposing figure. When she motioned them over, both Cedric and Mia followed without hesitation. 

Minerva McGonagall introduced herself with elegance and poise in a manner that spoke to years of experience making the very same speech about your house being your family, _that had Mia feeling nauseous_ , the start of year banquet, _that had Mia feeling hungry_ and the Sorting, t _hat had Mia feeling nauseous all over again._

“Now, your own Sorting will be conducted in private, seeing as you are not first years, I will escort you up to Headmaster Dumbledore’s Office, where the Sorting Hat will do its job”. 

This was a small mercy, not having to be judged in front the whole school, Mia thought this was a special form of torture to ensure the children would stay in line at least, at first.

The walk to the school, it seemed was the chosen torture to replace the public sorting. It took what Mia felt like was a century for the castle to change from a distant glow to an enormous rolling building. 

Mia’s respect for McGonagall grew as she looked completely unruffled from the trek and immediately led the siblings up a towering set of stairs and numerous corridors that looked identical. Mia and Cedric were barely keeping up, and exchanged incredulous looks. 

They came to a stop at a nine-foot-tall gargoyle and when McGonagall whispered to it, they exchanged a look of pure confusion, silently, not wanting to attract her attention unnecessarily out of pure intimidation. They both jumped a foot back when the stone rumbled to reveal an entrance, before laughing nervously and following McGonagall onto the moving steps. 

The door at the end of the ride opened up to a circular office filled with trinkets and instruments that Mia had never seen before. The room was a flurry with soft tinkling noises that suggested that it was always in motion, never static. Behind the large claw foot desk, sitting haphazardly on a shelf was a wizard hat, that looked to have been patched up more times than Mia’s favourite periwinkle blue knit jumper that had been through many years of escapades, first from Cedric and now by Mia. 

The nerves that had been forgotten in place of wonder were now back in full force and Mia rang her hands in the sleeve of her robes. They shook slightly, and she took a breath. 

A man, with a long silver beard and spectacular deep green robe that sparkled with embroidered stars and moons stepped out of an adjacent room, entering the office with a wide smile. He peered out of his half-moon spectacles at the two of them and Mia shuffled closer to Cedric at the, albeit good natured, assessment. 

“Mia and Cedric, is it?”, he had a deep, calming voice that relaxed Mia instantly. 

They both nodded before Cedric straightened out and held out his hand to shake.

“Cedric Diggory. Pleasure to meet you, Sir”, his voice barely wavered. 

Mia was impressed, all that training dad had put him through preparing him for the Ministry had come in handy for something at least. 

Professor McGonagall’s hand squeezed her tense shoulder and Headmaster Dumbledore’s eyes turned to Mia who was smiling tightly. 

“I believe it's youngest first?”, he phrased it as a question, but Mia was hard pressed to argue, given that she wasn’t sure if any actual words would make it out of her mouth. 

Clenching her jaw, she stepped forward with purpose and sunk into the plush armchair that was out of place in the middle of the room.

While usually Mia would appreciate a soft chair to fold into after a long day, this time she was holding herself up, tense and gripping the armrests with a vengeance.

Professor McGonagall placed the tattered old hat on her head and it slipped down until she could no longer see the professor’s reassuring smile and Cedric’s encouraging nod. 

Mia’s thoughts were racing a mile a minute and her breathing was quick. She didn’t want to cloud the judgement of the sorting hat and attempted to push her desire to be put in Gryffindor with the friends she had already made, in order to be placed in the house that would most suit her. It was after all, the hats only job. 

‘ _Calm down_ ’, she thought and pulled together all her determination to stop the rushing in her mind. 

That was when she heard a small voice in her ear. “Oh yes, very collected”, it said, she didn’t _feel_ very collected, “and presumptuous”, she blushed. 

“With all that nerve and determination, oh and look here, a streak of recklessness”, the voice sounded smug “must be, GRYFFINDOR”.

The hat was pulled off and Mia could see the room again, her own grin rivalled all its twinkling glory. 

She flung herself out of her seat into her brother’s arms.

“Ced! Gryffindor!”, she grinned excitedly and he beamed at her, before she moved eagerly to stand next to her now head of house to let her brother take his turn. 

With what felt like an eternity, but couldn’t have been more than a minute, the great tear at the bottom of the hat opened and exclaimed “Hufflepuff!”. 

Mia, who had been shaking with barely hidden excitement previously had come to a dead stop, shocked until she saw Cedric’s genuine glee, and started grinning all over again.

“Ah! Gryffindor and Hufflepuff! Most exciting”, said the Headmaster, before they were ushered out of the office so the Professors could sort the waiting first years. 

Mia and Cedric loitered outside the Great Hall.

“We’re not in the same house”, she said, somewhat sadly. 

“We’ll still _live_ in the same house”, Cedric said and Mia laughed at his poor attempt at humour.

“God, Ced. Your jokes really are something else”, she rolled her eyes.

“It’s alright, Mia,” he said tucking her under his arm and squeezing. “I have Jake, and you’ll have Harry and Ron and Hermione”. 

“Don’t forget Dean and Seamus and Neville”, she said, squeezing him back. 

“See? You’ve got more friends than me already!”, Cedric threw his hands up in defeat. “I told you, we're gonna be just fine here”. 

They laughed together before they straightened out their robes that now reflected their house colours and strode into the Great Hall, Mia was buzzing out of her skin. 

Immediately, the atmosphere changed as they were stared at and whispered about. Mia moved uncomfortably under the gossip until Cedric nudged her with a smile and nodded his head towards Hermione who was beckoning her over.   
  
Mia’s gaze crossed over to the table where Jake was motioning to Cedric. In that single flash of a moment, she knew that they really would both be just fine. Her shoulders dropped from her neck for the first time today, as she took a breath and almost ran over to the Gryffindor table in excitement.   
  
“Gryffindor!”, Hermione exclaimed, while the others grinned appreciatively at Mia’s uniform change.   
  
Sitting in the Great Hall while the first years were being sorted was an adventure in chaos as each table erupted in cheers whenever someone was sorted into their house. This caused a dizzying symphony of blue, red, yellow and green colour that made her head spin.   
  
With the words “tuck in” echoing in a deep voice around the room, empty dishes on the wooden table were filled with a large array of delicious food.  
  
Mia watched Ron speaking with his mouth full of mashed potato and wrinkled her nose. Hermione glanced at her with a similar expression on her face and knew she had an ally in her new friend.  
  
Dumbledore had risen to give out several notices. He cancelled the Quidditch Cup which apparently would be the only thing needed to send every boy in Gryffindor to an early grave. Hermione and Mia shared disbelieving grins at the looks on Ron and Harry's faces.   
  
Before the Headmaster could stop the choked gaping at the Gryffindor table with an explanation, the doors of the Great Hall banged open, revealing a man leaning on a long staff, draped in a thick black travelling cloak.   
  
The man lowered his hood and his figure was no less daunting. A dark grizzly mane framed a face that seemed to be made of vintage leather, that had been through a shredding machine. His image was completed with one dark beady eye assessing the room in a calm fashion while the other was a whizzing electric blue, whizzing literally. It was moving independently of the man’s other eye roving the room in an erratic manner, before it disappeared entirely showing only the white of his eye. He was looking through the back of his skull and Mia almost snorted out loud, he had eyes in the back of his head!

The man approached Dumbledore and after a whispered conversation, too low for anyone to hear, he sat down at the head table. 

“May I introduce our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Moody”, Dumbledore’s booming voice rang out. 

Mia jerked out a faint memory and the words Mad Eye rolled around her thoughts. 

“Mad Eye Moody?”, Harry said out loud to Ron. “The one your dad went to help this morning?”.  
  
“Must be”, Ron said in a low awed voice.   
  
“My dad went to help him too”, Mia said, frowning.  
  
“What happened to his _face_ ?”, Hermione whispered. Mia silently agreed with the frantic tone of her voice, the man looked menacing.

The event that Dumbledore had been introducing, Mia realised, was the same thing that the Malfoy boy had been going on about on the train, automatically she began sweeping the hall for the shock of white blond hair.

Before she spotted it however, Dean came into focus some ways down the Gryffindor table. He was smiling and shot his thumb up in congratulations, Mia grinned right back at him and showed off the Gryffindor crest on her robes in a rather exaggerated pretentious manner.   
  
When Dumbledore announced that the Triwizard Tournament would be taking place at Hogwarts this year and only those who were of age would be allowed to compete, Cedric immediately caught Mia’s eye and shot her a contemplative look. Mia shrugged her shoulders at him in a ‘why not?’ gesture before he was bowled over by Jake who was shaking him excitedly.   
  
Secretly Mia didn’t know whether or not to be thrilled at the prospect of two other schools staying at Hogwarts for the better part of the year, meaning the presence of many, many people. She was grateful for the friends she had already made as she travelled up to their dormitories together side by side with Hermione.   
  
Once they entered the circular room there was a crackling fire lit casting a pleasant glow and warming the room, Hermione bid the boys goodnight and Mia followed suit ready to fall into her own four-poster bed after the emotional day she’d had.   
  
In bed, before sleep overtook her completely Mia decided to throw caution to the wind and allow herself to feel keen about her first real year of school. Oh! And to remember to write home to her mother. 


	7. Bubotuber Pus and Blast Ended Skrewts

The ceiling in the Great Hall was still gloomy and cloud covered in the morning as Harry, Ron, Hermione and Mia sat around breakfast studying their class schedules. Fred, George and their friend Lee, were discussing ideas to foil the age restriction placed on entering the Triwizard Tournament and Mia decided to go find Cedric and see if he had decided to go through with entering himself. 

Cedric was sitting at the Hufflepuff table, eating breakfast surrounded by a couple friends. It was almost time for morning classes so the Great Hall was close to empty. Despite it being Mia’s first day, she pushed her luck to hang out with her brother. 

As soon as Mia approached the group she was tackled onto the bench.

“Long-time no see, kiddo”, Jake said, roughing up her hair.

Mia nudged him so he would back off, and laughed as she straightened herself up. 

“Shut up Jake”, she grinned, “I just came to see if Cedric was going to put his name in to  _ earn glory  _ for the school”. 

“Of course he is, Mia!”, Jake roared.

“He’s old enough, innit”, he continued, stuffing more toast into his already full mouth. 

“I would too if I was seventeen”, he attempted to say, the sound muffled by half-macerated bread. 

In favour of ignoring the disgusting display of her brother’s best friend, she looked over at Cedric expectantly. He was diligently cutting up his bangers into bite sized pieces deep in thought. Eventually he cleared his throat and made eye contact with Mia.

“Er, yeah - I reckon I will”, he said with his usual reserved confidence. This humility was so familiar to her, and she found herself envious of his confidence. 

However, now that he’d actually said it out loud, Mia could see him shift from wary nervousness to barely restrained excitement.

“Alright then”, Mia grinned, his mood contagious. “Let’s make a bet on all that prize money”, she said mischievously.

Cedric only rolled his eyes and kissed her head as he made his way out of the Great Hall taking the surrounding group of people with him.

…

Mia gladly followed her fellow Gryffindor’s down the sloping lawn to Care of Magical Creatures after a truly horrific Herbology class where they’d spent the entire lesson squeezing putrid pus out of slug-like plants. 

Harry, Ron and Hermione chatted animatedly about their friend Hagrid, who was teaching the class and how sometimes he didn’t know the interesting creatures from the murderous ones. 

Probably because he was a half-giant, Mia thought, it’s got to be pretty hard to hurt someone with giant’s blood. 

As they neared, the clearer the sound of rattling crates and muted explosions became. 

“Mornin’!”, Hagrid said, grinning at Harry, Ron and Hermione before peering to look at Mia curiously.

“Hagrid! This is Mia, she’s just started”, Hermione introduced. 

Mia greeted him with an excited  _ hello  _ before the restless crates commanded her attention. Hagrid, noticing her interest beamed. 

“Blast-Ended Skrewts, they are!”, he said enthusiastically. 

“Eurgh”, said Lavender Brown, and she wasn’t wrong.

The Blast-Ended-Skrewts, as Hagrid called them, were shaped like deformed shell-less lobsters, only they were pale and slimy looking. Each one was about six inches long and with nearly a hundred of them trapped inside each crate, Mia almost wished she was back with the bubotuber pus. 

“On’y jus’ hatched”, said Hagrid proudly. Mia wondered if he could smell the odour of rotting fish that was emanating from them, or if he was completely desensitised to it. Maybe… he was too far up for the smell to reach him.

Raising lobster-looking, crustacean-smelling, end-exploding creatures was not what Mia had expected at all, but that is what Hagrid had assigned.

She’d never seen anything like them before and she wasn’t looking forward to the adult versions of the lobster-looking, crustacean-smelling, end-exploding creatures they would become. 

Hagrid explained that they would just be test feeding the Skrewts today. From a wide selection of ant eggs, frog livers and grass snake to choose from, Mia reached for the eggs. 

She had been partnered with Dean, who was holding out a piece of frog liver to try and tempt the seemingly mouthless creatures to eat. 

“What happened to you?”, Dean said, pointing to the fried pieces of hair that flailed around her face, they were too short to tie up or tuck behind her ear now.

“Bloody bubotuber pus, burnt right through it”, Mia huffed, attempting valiantly to blow her hair out of her face while simultaneously throwing ant eggs at newborn Blast-Ended-Skrewts. 

Dean reached his liver free hand out towards her and she held completely still as he softly tucked the errant pieces against her head. 

The moment was broken by a blast and a burn.

“Ouch!”, Dean yelled. “It got me!”, showing the burn on his hand to Mia, then Hagrid. 

“That can happen when they blast off,” Hagrid said, as if this was completely normal. “Some of ‘em have got stings”.

Dean and Mia exchanged a look of consternation as Hagrid continued further, “The females’ve got a sort of sucker on their bellies, might be able to suck blood”.

“Well, I can certainly see why we’re trying to keep them alive,” said Malfoy sarcastically. “Who wouldn’t want pets that can burn, sting, and bite all at once?”.

The comment would have been funny if Malfoy hadn’t said it in such a belittling tone and Mia found she was glad that Hermione had snapped at him. 

Sidling up to Malfoy at the end of class, Mia said, “You know,” then paused, “You might  _ actually  _ be funny if you weren’t such a pompous arse.” 

She felt uniquely satisfied at having left Malfoy mouth gaping and face as red as her robes that she walked with her friends back up to the castle for lunch in a cheerful mood, despite the Blast-Ended monstrosities. In the first few hours of her time at Hogwarts, Mia could already tell it was clearly full of the weird and wonderful. 

With Hermione, off at the library so soon after a hurried lunch Mia was left with Ron and Harry. 

“Is she always like that?”, she asked. 

“Pretty much”, Ron answered with a shrug. 

“Don’t worry,” Harry comforted, “I’m sure Hermione still wants to be your friend, even if you look like you’ve got a mullet”. 

Ron guffawed and Mia groaned, banging her head down on the table. 

*******

When the bell rang to signal the start of afternoon classes, Mia made her way towards Muggle Studies and was glad to see Hermione already seated. 

“Learning about muggles from wizards is completely different than growing up muggle”, she said and Mia had to agree. She admired Hermione’s eagerness to learn, and wondered if Hermione would have been the same in her muggle schooling.

By the end of the first class, she had a newfound understanding of how clueless wizards were who had not been immersed in muggle culture somehow or other since childhood like she had been. 

“I had no idea you were so muggle oriented!”, Hermione exclaimed excitedly, as Mia explained her family’s regular involvement in muggle culture on the way to the Great Hall for dinner. 

Eventually they ran into Ron and Harry, who had already been given homework on the first day and were not too pleased about it. 

They had just reached the queue for dinner when a loud voice rang out behind them. It was Malfoy, of course.

“Your dad’s in the paper, Weasley”, he said, before brandishing a copy of the Daily Prophet and reading from it with a raised voice. 

Malfoy looked up to ensure Ron heard what he had read from the article when he finished. 

“Imagine them not even getting his name right, Weasley. It’s almost as though he’s a complete nonentity, isn’t it?”, he said nastily. 

“Get stuffed, Malfoy,” Harry said.

Ron’s face was about as red as his hair and he was barely restraining himself. 

“I would say that  _ you _ knowing his name was something, Malfoy but I suppose you aren’t too important, are you?”, Mia said cooly, trying to mimic the air of superiority that clung to Malfoy’s spirit.

Malfoy’s face went slightly pink and Harry blasted out an insult about his mother. 

Mia saw Draco pull out his wand, ss they were turning away. Then a loud BANG! Filled the air and they spun right back around.

Professor Moody was limping down the marble staircase with his wand out, pointing at a pure white ferret in the exact place Malfoy had been standing. 

Moody growled something at Harry, but Mia was too busy being stunned by the state of the shivering ferret prone on the flagstone floor, then completely horrified as it began to bounce higher and higher into the air according to Moody’s wand.

Mia never thought she’d be relieved to hear Professor McGonagall shrieking but, at that moment, she was. Professor Moody was forced to transform Malfoy back into a human, and she couldn’t decide whether to laugh or cry at the image of the ferret on the floor. Instead, she watched anxiously as Moody led Malfoy toward the dungeons with what looked like a sturdy grip on his upper arm. 

“Draco Malfoy, the amazing bouncing ferret”, said Ron and both Harry and Hermione laughed as they sat at the Gryffindor table.

“He could have really hurt Malfoy, though”, Hermione said and Mia deflated from her worry, knowing that at least, Hermione was acting logically.

“It was good that Professor McGonagall stopped it”. 

“You’re ruining the best moment of my life!”, Ron exaggerated and Mia laughed.

Hermione once again began eating at a hurried pace.

“Don’t tell me you’re going back to the library?”, Harry said, Mia made a noise of support. 

“Got to, loads to do”, Hermione said, she was about to leave when she caught Mia’s eye.

“Oh, that reminds me”, she was rummaging through her bag that seemed to be holding about as many books as she’d seen her with at the World Cup.

“Here,” she flourished some folded parchment right under Mia’s nose.“I found a spell that should fix your hair right up”. 

She waited until Mia took the proffered piece before she was off again. 

With the portion of food on her plate being more mashed than eaten, Mia also rose from the table with a bid goodbye to the boys and decided to see if she could figure out the spell before the next morning. 


	8. The Abysmal Failure of Her Shrinking Solution

All things considered, Mia believed she had done quite well using the spell Hermione had given her. While not completely grown back, her hair no longer resembled the mullet Harry had teased her for. She flattened it nervously on the way to breakfast the next morning. If Ron didn’t notice the ends that remained burnt, then she would be safe. Ron was always the first to tease her about anything. Thankfully, Ron seemed preoccupied in the morning with the idea of Potions first period. 

Today's Potions lesson was their first practical lesson, a review of Shrinking Solution. Slightly nervous, Mia sat down across from Harry. Professor Snape was constantly angry, but had recently reached a new level of vindictiveness. 

"Partner up", he barked across the room. 

Mia immediately moved over to Hermione, while Ron and Harry started unpacking their ingredients. 

Professor Snape approached them, shaking his head. "Miss Parkinson, come over here and partner up with Mr. Potter". 

Harry let out a small groan and Ron moved to partner up with Neville instead. 

"Miss Diggory, isn't it?", Professor Snape hissed. "Perhaps we should put you with someone … higher up in the class”.

He glanced over at Hermione, who had her head down and was focusing on the table. Hermione had already confided to Mia in Muggle Studies that Potions was the only class she was coming second in. Clearly, Professor Snape was not about to let her forget it. 

"Partner up with Mr. Malfoy", Professor Snape demanded, gesturing to the empty seat that Pansy Parkinson had left. 

Unwilling to sit next to Malfoy, but even more unwilling to defy Professor Snape, Mia slid over and sat down next to Malfoy, not meeting his eyes and not saying anything. 

"Miss Diggory", Malfoy smirked. 

"Oh Christ", Mia whispered, rolling her eyes. 

Malfoy started juicing the shrivelfigs, leaving Mia to unpack the rest of the ingredients and study the recipe. 

She busied herself lining up the ingredients in the order of the recipe on the work surface. While she could identify almost all the ingredients listed, this did not mean that she would be able to brew the potion correctly after so much time away from brewing. 

Malfoy had already managed to make it to step four without Mia’s explicit help. That was, however, when he made the rather unwise decision to include her in the process. 

“Come on then, Diggory. Even you can’t mess up shaking up some wormwood”, he snarked.

Unconvinced with her own skill, but bolstered by Malfoy’s taunting, Mia started to get the wormwood to a well shaken state, whatever that meant. She decided not to show a single bit of her lack of self confidence in her abilities to brew. Not to Malfoy, definitely. 

Malfoy dropped five hairy caterpillars into the cauldron from a height, somehow managing to keep it from splattering over the edges, making Mia frown at his aptitude.

The swift back and forth movement of the tube of wormwood in Mia’s hand got quicker the longer Malfoy stared into the dark cauldron.

Eventually Malfoy glanced up from his brew, the look on his face suggested that Mia was exceedingly dense and her shaking hand stopped immediately.

“Are you shaking wormwood, Diggory, or performing a fanfare?”, he said seriously, Mia’s frown deepened and the roiling tide of annoyance in her stomach worsened. He could see right through her. 

Mia’s mouth twisted. “You’re the only person here constantly putting on a show _Malfoy_ ”, she sneered.

He simply returned to his, no, _their_ cauldron. 

“I will not deign that comment with a response Diggory, simply because potions is a fine art that requires at least some intellect, and I will not be getting a Troll in this class because of you”, he said irritated, while stirring their concoction vigorously, as the instructions suggested.

“You’re a troll”, Mia muttered under her breath childishly.

“I did suspect that your biting wit was a facade to mask the fact that you’re an utter swot”, she said louder, looking away to begin juicing leeches. 

_Stupid Malfoy and his perfect potions, and all that being the best in their year for this stupid class._

At least Hermione, her friend, was _first_ in every other class, and that meant Mia was better than him, by proxy.

Malfoy snatched the juiced leeches out of her hands and began pouring it into the potion. Angry, Mia took it out on shaking the rat spleen, so as not to attract Professor Snape’s wrath.

By the time the rat spleen needed to be added Mia had worked herself up into a right state of frustration. Deciding to take initiative she started dropping the rat spleen into the cauldron, according to the next step. 

With a disbelieving noise that bordered on irritation, Malfoy’s long, pale arm shot out and cool fingers wrapped around Mia’s wrist in a tight grip.

“Are you always so incompetent, Diggory?”, he said impatiently. “Do you _want_ to be poisoned by your own brew?”, pulling her hand away from the cauldron, just before she managed to add a too big portion of rat spleen into the concoction. 

“You’re almost worse than Crabbe and Goyle”, he muttered.

It was at this reference that the roiling tide in Mia’s gut turned into a raging fire, she snatched her hand out of Malfoy’s grasp. 

“Well I'm _sorry_ Malfoy, but travelling the world and having to pack up your whole life every few months isn’t very conducive to a stable lifestyle of potions making in the laboratory of my _fancy_ manor”, she started, her voice raised.

“I couldn’t very well pack up our apothecary and transport it all the way to Romania could I! First of all, the magic from the portkey would disturb the potency of the ingredients and not to mention the disaster if any of the more reactive components mixed and created noxious gas right in my trunk. Do you _want_ me to poison an entire house full of travelling wizards Malfoy, _do you_?!”. 

As soon as she finished her spiel she was mortified. She had all but stomped her foot like a four year old having a tantrum. God, what was she thinking? Complaining to Malfoy of all people about her problems. She had really underestimated how frustrated Potions was going to make her. 

She was infinitely grateful that she had not spoken louder than the overall noise in the classroom, meaning that Malfoy was the only one who had heard her monologue. 

Malfoy had heard her.

Christ, she wanted to disappear into the floor.

Malfoy cleared his throat, “Well, it seems that you’re not as completely horrid at potions as you made it seem”. 

His voice had an air of awkwardness. He kept his eyes averted, stirring the solution slowly. 

“You know about the basic problems of brewing and the dangers of an untidy work space, at _least_ ”, Malfoy adjusted the flame under the potion then turned to look at Mia. 

“So, why is it that you can’t brew?”, he asked, rather softly.

Mia tried to decipher an ulterior motive but he seemed terribly sincere so she told him, “I’m pretty good at the theory part, it's just, whenever I start brewing I start to panic and then I get in my own head, a bit”. 

He nodded towards the cauldron, that now was a pale green colour.

“Go on then, it’s time to cast the shrinking charm”. 

At Mia's puzzled look, he continued, “Surely you can manage an acceptable _reducio_ ”. 

Mia cleared her throat and slipped her wand out of her sleeve, she most definitely could. Concentrating, she swished her wand in a tight V formation and firmly voiced the incantation, “ _Reducio”._

The potion in the cauldron shifted from a pale green to the bright green that confirmed that it was brewed correctly.

Mia’s grin formed before she could stop it and when she turned to Malfoy, she was a tad smug. 

“Pretty good result, eh”, she nudged. 

Malfoy snorted “Yeah, real team effort”. 

“If only we could use it to shrink that ego of yours”, Mia teased, unable to stop herself. 

Just then, Professor Snape stalked up behind them and peered into the cauldron. 

“Acceptable”, he announced, and from Snape, that was equivalent to an honour from the Queen herself. 

Mia flashed her smile of disbelief at Draco, who rolled his eyes but consented into giving a rare smile. 

***********

Professor Moody’s Defence Against the Dark Arts class was completely different from Professor Snape’s Potions one, the only thing that carried over was the vague trepidation she felt at being in close quarters with their most unpredictable professors. 

Knowing Snape felt none too kindly towards Moody, Mia quickly turned her thoughts towards the class, as if to prevent Snape from reading her mind from halfway across the castle. She was being irrationally alert in the presence of Mad Eye Moody. 

Moody began his Defence Against the Dark Arts class in a way that was as intense as he was, stating that he was going to be teaching them something that the Ministry of Magic forbade him to teach: the unforgivable curses. Incredulously, Mia put her textbook back in her bag and watched intently, almost not blinking for her excitement. 

Three black spiders scuttled around in a glass jar on Moody's desk. He took one out as Ron offered an explanation of the Imperius Curse. Impressed by his daring nerve, Mia simply watched on in nervous anticipation as Moody drew out one of the spiders.

Pointing his wand at it, Moody muttered the word " _Imperio_ ", and on command, the spider leaped and jumped, cartwheeling and backflipping all around the desk. The class laughed, and Mia chuckled nervously, unsure of whether Moody was serious. 

Moody had launched into an explanation of the Imperius Curse, and its position in aiding Voldemort. Mia shared an anxious look with Hermione, the idea that people could be controlled completely by others gave Mia the shivers. 

"CONSTANT VIGILANCE", Moody barked, as he placed the first spider back in the jar, causing Mia to jump. 

This time Neville quietly offered another illegal curse, the Cruciatus Curse. Mia had overheard her father talking about this one. 

A different spider grew in Moody's hand as he pointed his wand at it. Ron pushed his chair back, seemingly terrified at the prospect of the large spider and Mia grinned. 

Moody raised his wand to the spider again, this time muttering " _Crucio_ ". Mia's grin disappeared immediately. The spider began to twitch horribly, seemingly in excruciating pain, rocking from side to side. 

Mia's eyes moved to Neville, who was looking horrified, hands clenched and eyes wide. Without thinking, Mia had shouted out.

"Stop it! Stop!". 

Moody looked up at Mia, and followed her eyes to Neville. Removing his wand, he shrank the spider again and returned it to the jar. Neville stumbled back to his seat, and sunk into it, his face still white. Mia's heart hurt for him and she longed to ask him if he was okay, but Moody continued on with the lesson as though nothing had happened. MIa turned her head back to the front, she knew Neville wouldn’t want attention right now.

Hermione whispered the last curse to Moody, the Killing Curse. Knowing what was coming as he put his hand in the jar for his last spider, Mia closed her eyes. 

Moody roared " _Avada Kedavra",_ and the flash of blinding green light hit Mia's closed eyes. She sniffed as she opened her eyes to see Ron almost toppling off his chair. Stifling a cry as she saw the spider rolled over on its back, Mia ignored Moody as he continued to speak. She no longer felt excited about Defence Against the Dark Arts. In fact, she felt inside as Neville still externally looked. 

With a final "CONSTANT VIGILANCE" from Moody, class was dismissed. Mia walked next to Dean lost in thought while the class around her discussed the curses frantically. 

"He really knows about it all, Mia. Did you see? The way he just killed that spi-" .

But Mia had seen Neville standing alone as though mesmerised, halfway up a side passage and no longer had any interest in hearing what Dean had to say. 

"Neville?", She said gently, as she approached him.

"Oh, hello", he said in a voice much higher than his usual one. His eyes were still wide open, as though transfixed in the same horrified state he was in the class.

"Neville, are you okay?", she said in almost a whisper. 

Before Neville could answer an odd clunking noise came from behind them, and Professor Moody limped towards them. 

"It's all right, sonny. Come on up to my office, we'll have a cup of tea”, he said, steering Neville along. 

Mia looked back at Neville trudging along and waited for Dean, and they walked down to the Great Hall for dinner together, in contemplative silence. 

***************

Mia returned to the common room that night to find Harry and Ron very clearly making up predictions for their Divination class, which they assured Mia were very believable after a glimpse at her doubtful face. Shockingly, she didn’t believe that they would both drown on the same day, but assumed that the art of exaggeration was one that they appreciated in Divination. 

Sitting next to Neville, who was also doing his homework, she started on an essay for Muggle Studies, finding herself more and more intrigued by the premise of another world out there without magic, and explaining the necessity of electricity for muggles. 

She grew rather tired, the later it got, and envied Neville who had already turned in. The common room was getting more and more empty when Hermione finally returned, rattling a box around and ranting about the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare. 

Mia tried to understand her position, but Ron and her started bickering about _wearing badges with 'SPEW' on them_ and _PAYING for the badges,_ and Mia found herself drifting back to her essay.

A soft _tap, tap_ on the window drew her attention and she saw a snowy white owl perched on the windowsill. 

"Hedwig!", Harry shouted, launching himself out of the chair and pulling open the window. 

"She's got an answer from Sir-", Ron said, cut off by Hermione's shhh's and sudden anxious look. 

Once Mia caught sight of the letter Hedwig had delivered she stood up very suddenly, "Blimey!".

"Mia?", Hermione asked quietly. 

"I've forgotten to send a letter to my mother!", She cried frantically, while Harry and the others breathed a small, discreet sigh of relief. "Harry, I'm so sorry, could I borrow Hedwig?". 

"Sure, Mia", Harry smiled.

"Christ, good thing you reminded me", Mia muttered exasperated. "How she hasn't sent me a Howler already I don't know! I was supposed to send her one the first night!". 

With Ron chuckling at her misfortune and stress, Mia flew back upstairs to her dormitory, determined to write a long letter outlining everything to her mother, to make up for her lack of letters.


	9. The Owlery and the Unusual Proposal

Between the trouble of Professor Moody's lessons, her fear of failing Potions and Hagrid's Blast-Ended Skrewts, Mia barely had time to focus on her letter to her mother, and only ended up finishing it on the afternoon of the arrival of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. 

Utilising the early end of class, Mia bade farewell to Hermione, and set off for the Owlery to find Hedwig. 

After a frankly disturbing potions lesson, despite its shorter time frame, Mia was glad to be up in the owlery. She breathed in the fresh air rolling through the tower windows after sending Hedwig to her mother and felt a sense of calm. That was, until she realised she was no longer alone.

A glimpse of white blonde hair told her she knew exactly who had disturbed her peace. To his credit, Draco hid his surprise at not being alone either quite well.

“With what a travesty you are in Potions, Diggory, you’d think to stay away from all hazards”, he said, eyeing her proximity to the wide open window.

Mia flushed at the reminder of the cauldron bubbling over then completely collapsing over itself. She and Neville had somehow managed to melt it. She hadn’t even done that as a child!

“Just because I'm hopeless at Potions, doesn’t mean I'm hopeless at everything, Malfoy”, Mia said, far from being able to deny her problematic Potions ability.

Draco approached the window and perched his regal looking eagle owl on the ledge, stroking her feathers. 

“What’s her name?”, Mia asked. 

“Dumbass”, Draco drew himself up proudly. “It was my father’s childhood nickname for me,” he said wistfully. 

She let out a startled laugh at this before giving into the urge and reaching out towards the owl.

“No don’t!”, Draco exclaimed, but she had already started to scratch the owls head. 

“She bites”, he said, frowning in dismay when Mia’s fingers remained unbitten. 

“She usually bites”, he repeated, then cleared his throat.

Mia suppressed a smile before asking, “So, what’s her name,  _ really _ ?”.

“Ulysses”, he let out a small, restrained laugh, as he attached the letter held in his hand to her leg, and she flew off. 

They both watched the owl until she became merely a speck in the vast blue sky. 

“So, do you think there’s any way to save your abysmal Potions marks from imminent doom?”, he said, once she was out of sight.

“The only imminent doom I’m facing is the wrath of Professor Snape'', Mia said, genuinely scared. 

Draco laughed. She smacked his arm.

“Shut up Malfoy, I’m serious! He’s going to murder me and Neville in our sleep, without a doubt”.

“Longbottom’s been melting cauldrons since the first year and he hasn’t died yet”. 

Mia let out a disbelieving laugh, Neville facing Snape’s wrath constantly made him more Gryffindor than anyone gave him credit for.

“Yeah, well, if no one gives him the Gryffindor common room password I might make it to the end of the year”. 

Draco snickered. 

“Seriously, you’re gonna need Remedial Potions or something!”, he drawled.

“I can’t just ask Snape to let me melt his cauldrons on a regular basis, Malfoy!”, she rolled her eyes.

“Christ, I’m gonna be stuck in Snape’s fourth year potions class for the rest of eternity”, Mia was on her way to almost hyperventilating now.

“Diggory!”, he snapped, grabbing her by the arms and shaking her, “I’m trying to tell you that I may be able to provide you with some assistance”. 

Confused, Mia stared into his eyes. They were a deep grey, like the colour of the sky after a heavy storm. 

“With Remedial Potions”, he said slowly. “Unofficially of course, I can’t be seen helping such a hopeless Gryffindor”.

He couldn’t quite keep the sneer out of his voice when he said the name of her house. 

“Er...”, was all she managed to say, shocked at his offer.

Draco’s mouth turned into a smug grin when he noticed her blush stained cheeks.

“Think about it, Diggory”, he winked, stepping away.

Astonished, Mia only made to leave when she was sure she could no longer hear the sound of Malfoy’s echoing steps.

By the time Mia rushed back downstairs to the entrance hall, Professor McGonagall was snapping at everyone, trying to get them all looking their best. Luckily, Mia was saved a berating as Professor McGonagall was distracted at the front of the line. She had just slipped next to Dean and Harry when she gasped, looking into the distance over the lake. 

A gigantic, powder-blue, horse-drawn carriage was soaring closer and closer to the castle. The Beauxbatons students that poured out of the carriage were all in their late teens, shrouded in robes made of fine silk and wearing cloaks, clearly shivering from the drastic change in climate. 

Madame Maxime, their headmistress, was undoubtedly the largest woman Mia had ever seen. She held back an audible gasp as her entire size was revealed. Mia thought she was even taller than Hagrid. Mia and Dean stifled their laughter when she referred to Dumbledore as  _ ‘Dumbly-dorr’ _ but he seemed unfazed and simply beamed at her. Mia had had limited interactions with Professor Dumbledore, but his kindness was evident in every step he took. 

Unlike Beauxbatons, Dumstrang’s students arrived in a magnificent ship and wore large cloaks of fur. Professor Karkaroff created an aura of fear in students, not unlike Professor Snape. However, Mia noticed it was more of a facade, as his physical features seemed weak. She was swept up in observing him when she received a sharp elbow to the ribs. 

“Ow!-”.

“Krum! Mia!  _ Viktor Krum _ !”, Dean whispered. 

“Oh Blimey!”. 

Mia turned around at the shocked faces around her. Ron looked positively perplexed, as though he wasn’t sure what he was seeing was reality. She caught Hermione’s eye and they giggled at his bewilderment. Finally, she found the face she was looking for. Cedric was shaking Jake in disbelief, their grins contagious. Looking back, Mia realised she was trailing behind as the others walked over to the Gryffindor table for the welcoming feast and ran forward to catch up to Hermione. 

Ron was fussing over them all, trying to get them to leave space for Krum and his friends. Instead, Krum sat across from Draco at the Slytherin table, who looked very smug about this and leant forward to speak to him. Mia smiled and rolled her eyes, while Ron considered out loud how best to get Krum to sleep in their dormitory. 

She was subconsciously  _ smiling _ at Draco? Woah, what was happening to her? Draco wasn’t as terrible to her as he was to the others, but she hadn’t made her mind up about him just yet. 

Dumbledore began his speech, and while Mia tried to concentrate, she found herself struggling to understand why Draco had offered to help her. What was he getting out of it?

By the time she had gone several circles around the same questions, Dumbledore had finished his speech and Fred and George were muttering about an Age Line.

With a final booming “goodnight” from Dumbledore, Mia woke up from her daze and began the walk to her dormitory, among all the excited Gryffindors. She felt herself being pulled back and ended up in a headlock-type tackle from Jake. 

“Ced and I - we’re gonna be school champions”, Jake shouted happily, releasing Mia.

“You know they only choose one, right?”, Mia laughed. “And you’re not seventeen yet?”. 

“Yeah, yeah. Nothin’ a little ageing potion can’t fix. Wait ‘til we’re both champions”, Jake replied, jumping through the line of excited students, tackling two younger Hufflepuffs who jumped at his touch. 

“So, are you entering then?”, Mia asked Cedric, who straggled behind Jake’s over-excitement. 

“Of course I am. Wouldn’t it be cool, Evie?”, Cedric exclaimed, seemingly attempting to keep his cool but almost bouncing with joy. 

Mia smiled at the use of her childhood nickname. Her family only used it when they were overcome by emotion, good or bad. Mia looked up and saw the elation on his face, fully understanding for the first time just how much he wanted to be chosen. 

“Yeah, Ced. It would be so awesome. I really hope you get it”, she said warmly, and he flashed her a quick grin and ran after Jake. 


	10. The Four Champions

Mia was still chuckling at Fred and George’s white beards seated at the Gryffindor table. Their plan to enter the Triwizard Tournament with an aging potion had been foiled by Dumbledore’s Age Line, much like Jake’s attempt had that morning. 

That day they visited Hagrid, and Mia didn’t think she would ever forget the combination of the hairy brown suit, coupled with a checkered yellow and orange tie that he was sporting. She did however enjoy chatting with Hagrid over tea about the history of the tournament and trying to get him to tell them what the tasks of this tournament would entail. 

Harry, Hermione, Ron and Mia walked behind the towering forms of a blushing Hagrid and Madame Maxime, making their way to the Great Hall for the announcement of the champions. Their excitement combined with the cooling weather had them taking quicker strides than usual to make it into the castle. 

The feast took an age to end and Mia spent most of it craning her neck to look between Cedric and Dumbledore with a constant thrill of anticipation.

Dumbledore finally arose, plunging them into a state of partial darkness by extinguishing all candles except those inside carved pumpkins that only intensified the goblet’s white-blue fiery glow in the buzzing room. 

When the flaming goblet turned red and spit out a burnt piece of parchment, Mia gasped along with the rest of the room.

“The champion for Durmstrang, Viktor Krum”, Dumbledore’s voice rang out and was immediately followed by thunderous applause. 

“Of course!”, Ron boomed, standing up and applauding wildly. 

Mia could barely concentrate by the time the Beauxbatons champion Fleur Delacour had been announced, there was only one school left. 

Buzzing out of her seat and whipping her head back and forth between the goblet and Cedric, the butterflies in Mia’s stomach created a whirlwind of emotion. 

Mia held her breath and crossed her fingers under the table. Hermione took her hand, and squeezed it three times. Dumbledore took a breath, and called out into the Great Hall, beaming with joy, “The Hogwarts Champion, Cedric Diggory”.

She was out of her seat so quickly that she smashed her knee into the table, though she barely noticed the pain and was instead joining the cacophony and cheers from the Hufflepuff table.

Tears welled in her eyes, and though unsure whether it was the pain from her knee or the elation in her heart, she felt her pride blossom as she watched Cedric shake Dumbledore’s hand. Before he slipped over to a side passage, he took one glance back, grinning broadly. At this point, Mia was standing atop the seats hollering shamelessly in his direction, he gave her an animated wave that was more of a spasm, before he ducked out of sight. 

Hermione cheered happily next to her, and pulled her into an overzealous hug as Mia sat down. 

Dumbledore continued his speech happily, and Mia was reminded of the night of the sorting, reassuring herself of how suited Cedric was to being a champion. Yet suddenly, Dumbledore stopped and her attention was drawn back to the goblet. It had turned red again, as though it was ready to announce another champion. Mia gasped, and turned to make sure the others had seen it. A piece of parchment flew out and Dumbledore caught it. 

With his usual booming voice, yet none of his usual joy, Dumbledore read “Harry Potter”. 

Mia’s grin faded. 

Mia looked over at Harry, his face white in shock.

“I didn’t put my name in”, he said, frantically looking between them. “You know I didn’t”. 

Mia tried to nod.

While she had barely processed the event, and wasn’t sure that Harry hadn’t chosen to enter himself, as she watched him dazedly walk up to the High Table she felt a pang of sympathy. He almost looked scared. The Great Hall was suddenly filled with angry whispering, outrage clear on the faces of those around her. 

As Harry disappeared into the room behind Cedric, Mia was awash with emotion. She was elated with the idea of Cedric being the school champion, but Cedric wasn’t the only one now. Harry had explicitly told them that he wouldn’t put his name in. He couldn’t, after all, without getting a white beard much like Fred and George’s. 

She looked across at Ron, whose anger was palpable in his clenched fists and tense face. However, her worry for Harry grew after looking to Hermione, whose eyebrows were furrowed deep in concern.

She looked down at the table, unsure in herself of how to feel. Hermione nudged her into action as they made their way back to the dormitory. Ron was quiet the entire walk, but it didn’t stop the journey from being filled with tension. 

Hermione and Mia sat on her bed together, the curtains drawn to drown out the angry muttering of their roommates. 

“I know it’s hard for you cause you’re still getting to know Harry, but he wouldn’t do something like this. Not without telling us”, Hermione said nervously fiddling with the skin around her fingers.

Mia sighed. “How can you be so sure?”, she questioned.

“Because I've been his friend since he came to Hogwarts!”, Hermione said tightly. “And the experiences we’ve been through, it really brings people together. I know he wouldn’t have done it”. 

Mia looked at her, “It doesn’t make sense that there are two Hogwarts champions. Cedric really wanted this. And Ron doesn’t seem to agree with you, he seems to think Harry wanted to be chosen”. 

Hermione sighed, frustrated “Ron is...” she gestured to the air seemingly at a loss for words.

“....Overshadowed by Harry and all his brothers a lot”, she said finally and Mia understood. 

Mia sighed.

“I feel bad for Harry. Poor kid can’t have a peaceful life. But Ron’s gotta  _ know  _ that Harry didn’t put his name in though, right?”, Mia said. 

“I think he does,” Hermione said quietly. “I think he’s just jealous, honestly. He’s been in the shadow of his brothers his whole life, just to come to Hogwarts and become friends with  _ the  _ Harry Potter”. 

Mia nodded. 

“Anyway, Harry’s not interested in his fame. He’s not attention seeking”, Hermione said.

“Yeah, I’ve noticed”, Mia chucked. 

Harry seemed to avoid any kind of altercation and often stood behind Mia, embarrassed, when first years tried to sneak a look at him. 

“Ron will see reason eventually, he  _ has _ to. Harry can’t do this on his own”, Hermione said, her tone beseeching.

Mia reached out to stop her wringing her hands anxiously and wrapped them in a comforting grip “It’s okay, Mione, I’ll talk to Ron tomorrow. You let Harry know he’s not alone”. 

Hermione looked up, and smiled at her.


	11. The Failed Reunification (of two idiots)

The next morning, Mia and Hermione woke up earlier than they usually would with their plan to talk to the boys firmly in place.

Hermione had left before her and when Mia descended the staircase to the common room she found Ron sitting in front of the fireplace, his eyes were shaded by dark bags as if he’d not slept at all. She leant against the cushy armchair Ron was occupying and watched the flames dance along with him silently until she heard his stomach growl. 

Mia placed her hand on Ron’s arm.

“Come on, let’s go down to breakfast”, she said softly. 

While Ron had piled his plate enormously as he usually would, he was stabbing rather viciously at his pieces of bacon. 

“Ron!”, Mia yelled, finally intervening in his breakfast massacre when a tomato flew across the table almost hitting her. Frustration overtook her pity for Ron. 

She grabbed two apples before rising from the table and stomping over to sit right next to him. Shoving the apple into his hands, Mia ordered him to eat.

“What the  _ bloody  _ hell is wrong with you?”, she asked, exasperated.

“Me! Harry’s the one that went behind our backs”, Ron exclaimed. 

Mia sighed, while she still carried a tiny bit of resentment on behalf of Cedric, she also knew that she believed Harry was telling the truth. More importantly she knew that deep down, Ron knew too. 

“Ron, you know he wouldn’t do that”, Mia spoke slowly, trying not to anger him further.

“Do I know?”, he burst out. “He’s a champion now Mia, as if being the Boy Who Lived wasn’t enough! What’s worse is that he didn’t even think we were worth letting in on his little secret”, Ron scowled down at the table before angrily taking a bite out of his apple. 

“Look, I get it! He’s kind of stealing Cedric’s thunder too, you know”, Mia conceded and Ron mumbled a noise of assent. 

“But don’t you think he would’ve told you before doing something like that?”.

At Ron’s sceptical look, Mia continued, “He couldn’t have lied to Hagrid all of yesterday, could he?”.

“Yeah well, that’s just another shit thing Harry’s done then”, Ron huffed, throwing the mangled apple core on the table. 

It was zapped away by some unseen magic before it even hit the wood. House elves really did deserve more credit, Mia thought.

By the time Mia looked up again, Ron had already stomped out of sight and she sighed defeatedly, resting back in her chair and realising that their talk had gone rather abysmally. 

************

In Care of Magical Creatures that day, Hagrid had succeeded in distracting the Slytherins from taunting Harry by setting up the class to walk his Blast Ended Skrewts. They were to work off their excess energy in hopes to get them to stop killing each other. Mia secretly hoped this tactic would apply to Harry and Ron too. 

Dean had managed to wrap the leash around their Skrewt and was having a terrible time being pulled along and trying not to catch the back end of a flaming blast. They christened this one with the name Chestburster in honour of the classic scene in the movie Alien, that they had both seen before and enjoyed immensely. It did help that the two creatures were so grotesquely similar in appearance. 

“Mia, quit laughing and help me!”, Dean shouted, as he was continuously jerked forward.

“You just need to show him who’s in charge”, Mia said, full of artificial confidence, holding back her laughter. 

Grabbing the leash from Dean, she set her shoulders and dug her heels into the soft ground leaning her body back to try and slow down.

“Chestburster! Stop!”, she cried, in as much of an authoritative voice as she could muster. 

Miraculously, the Skrewt came to a dead stop, but this meant Mia went flying forward with the sudden change in momentum. She would’ve landed face flat on the mushy ground if Dean hadn’t caught her around the middle and hung on strong. 

“Jesus Christ”, Mia exclaimed as she caught her breath, leaning against Dean’s strong frame.

The Skrewt, it turned out, had not stopped on Mia’s command and was instead digging into the ground, rapidly creating a large ditch in the middle of the grounds.

“Bloody hell, what is it doing?”, asked Seamus, gazing at their Skrewt with an awed expression. 

She looked at Dean, who was standing very close after just releasing her from his safe grip, and they smiled at each other. They both shrugged at Seamus’ question before attempting to heave Chestburster back towards Hagrid’s cabin.

By the time they finally made it, Mia was sweaty, covered in smudges of dirt and ready for a hearty meal. Hermione caught her eye and nodded towards Ron who was standing next to her with the same dismayed expression he had been sporting all day. She rolled her eyes before dragging Dean up to the Great Hall with her for lunch instead. 

Mia finally managed to catch Cedric at dinner that night to congratulate him properly. 

“Oi Champ!”, she called, squeezing herself in between him and Jake at the Hufflepuff table.

The Hufflepuffs had not taken very kindly to Harry being chosen as the fourth champion and were rather cold towards the Gryffindors ever since. It seemed like they couldn’t decide on how to treat Mia on account of her being both a Gryffindor and Cedric’s sister. Ultimately Mia found herself on the receiving end of many sympathetic looks. 

Cedric was flushed with excitement, he’d been surrounded by people interested in talking to him almost constantly since the announcement of champions. She knew that he wouldn’t be used to being the centre of attention from so many people and decided to see how he was doing with his new found popularity - and to keep his head from getting too big, that is what sisters are for, after all.

“Let’s go for a walk”, she suggested and Cedric nodded, getting up.

They tracked their way towards the Black Lake, the air was crisp and cool in the rapidly setting sun. 

“So, how are you feeling Ced?”, Mia asked, watching the water lap against the bank.

“Good. I’m feeling good about it all - a bit weird- you know, with all the fussing”, Ced answered and she laughed at the expression on his face that was caught between pure happiness and confused modesty.

“First task is meant to test our daring,” he confided. “Courage in the face of the unknown!”, he said in a mocking tone, before his face broke out into another grin.

“I’m so excited Evie, I hope I'm ready”, Cedric crossed his arms around himself and looked over the water. 

Mia bumped their shoulders together.

“Of course you’re ready Ced. You were the one that was picked, weren’t you?”, she said encouragingly, attempting to bolster his confidence.

It worked, Ced was buzzing with excitement again immediately and grabbed her into a crushing hug. 

***************

By the time they had made it to double potions a few days later, Mia had had quite enough of awkward, stilted conversations between the four of them as they tiptoed around Harry and Ron. 

Deciding to stop trying to ignore the tension between them, she stood with Hermione outside the potions classroom. Ron had chosen to stand with Dean and Seamus, leaving Harry alone. Although unwilling to take sides, Mia couldn’t help but feel pity for Harry. Draco suddenly yelled across at Harry, flashing a badge with the message; ‘ Support Cedric Diggory - The REAL Hogwarts Champion’. 

Draco’s ‘support’ of Cedric was questionable, but his anger towards Harry being chosen was clear. When the badge glowed green and changed to ‘Potter Stinks’, Mia and Hermione both stepped towards Harry.

“ _ Very  _ funny”, Hermione said sarcastically, trying to pull Harry away, who resisted. 

“Want one, Granger?”, Draco smirked. “I’ve got loads. But don’t touch my hand, I don’t want a Mudblood sliming it up”. 

“Fuck off, Malfoy”, Mia exclaimed, in shock at his use of  _ that  _ word, although she wouldn’t have put it past him. 

Before she could act, Harry had drawn his wand angrily.

Draco drew his at the same time, quietly egging Harry on. 

“Harry-”, Hermione started to say, but suddenly Draco and Harry both shot curses at the same time, hitting each other in midair and ricocheting off at angles. Goyle was hit by Harry’s curse, and his face immediately burst into boils. Draco’s curse only just missed Mia, instead hitting Hermione. 

“Hermione!”, Ron ran forward to see Hermione, who was covering her mouth. 

“What is it, Hermione?”, Mia whispered, trying to take Hermione’s hands from her face. 

Her hands shaking, she slightly moved them to show Mia and Ron. Her teeth were growing rapidly, already going past her bottom lip. She let out a whimper almost like a cry, and Mia saw the fear in her eyes. 

Professor Snape had appeared behind them, and Harry and Draco immediately launched into their own explanations, pinning the blame on the other for Hermione and Goyle’s injuries. 

Ron had forced Hermione to show her teeth to Professor Snape, who was looking deadly. 

“I see no difference”, he said coldly. 

Ron and Harry started shouting at Snape, and Hermione turned on her heel and started running down the corridor. Mia started after her. 

“Miss Diggory!”, Professor Snape’s cold, cruel voice rang through the hall.

Mia stopped in her tracks, turning to face him. 

“If you leave this class, you will receive a detention”, he said, in a soft, menacing voice. 

Without a second thought, Mia rolled her eyes and turned back around, running after Hermione. 

When she found her, she was hiding in the corner of a corridor, her teeth already down to her chest. Trying to calm her, Mia led her to the Hospital Wing where Madam Pomfrey asked no questions, but got straight to helping Hermione. 

She hid out at the Hospital Wing for the rest of the double period, stuck between her desire to help Hermione and her fear of ever returning to that class to face Snape’s wrath. 

Eventually, Mia started to feel hungry, and at Hermione’s insistence, went up to dinner to meet the others. Ron was waving her over and she sat with them to give them an update of Hermione’s condition. 

“I’ve got to do detention with you tomorrow night, so does Harry” Ron said, once she had finished. 

“That was bloody awesome, Mia,” Seamus grinned. 

“Yeah, I’m sure detention will be great too,” Mia said glumly, thinking that at least she could try to get Harry and Ron to get along in a confined space together for a few hours. 

******

You would think that sitting around a table of rat brains and pickling liquid, which combined created an aroma so wretched that Mia had no comparison for would be the worst part of Snape’s detention. However, putting up with Ron and Harry’s putrid attitudes was worse, Mia found herself giving up the attempt to get the two of them to talk to each other after thirty minutes of prompting one sided conversations. 

“What do you reckon is in this pickle juice?”.

No response. 

“Smells like Filch’s armpit”.

A muted snort from Ron.

“Who’s brains do you reckon are bigger, this rat or Rita Skeeter?”.

This again elicited no response apart from uncomfortable, angry shifting in both Harry and Ron’s postures.

Eventually, she decided to just complain about the task at hand, at great length. 

“You’d think that Snape would be smarter. What with leaving someone so awful at potions to  _ make _ potions ingredients. Maybe he’s inhaled too many potions. His hair is  _ definitely _ greasy enough from all the fumes. Who decides children should pickle rat brains anyways, that’s just disgusting and what about their little rat lives?! I should be protesting on principle!”.

Mia could sense both Harry and Ron starting to stir, if she could just annoy them enough to start talking to each other, things might go back to normal.

“Besides, what are we pickling them in anyways? That’s not a standard pickling solution! If Snape is using us to conduct experiments, Dumbledore would know about it, right? And McGonagall would interfere? She wouldn’t let us be experimented on by a Perfectly Priggish Potions Master!”. 

Ron finally broke, snorting out a laugh and Harry chuckled from her other side. They shared an exasperated look and Mia let herself break into a celebratory grin. 

The grin died however when both Ron and Harry quickly cut off their mutual laughter, refusing to engage with Mia’s tireless efforts.

“Will you two just talk to each other?!”, Mia exclaimed suddenly, sick of their behaviour.

“I don’t reckon a Champion would want to speak to a mere student”, Ron sneered.

“Oh come off it, Ron!”, Harry spat back angrily,

“Sod off”, Ron said pointedly, before Harry could continue, effectively ending the conversation Mia had so painstakingly cultivated. 

After two very long hours in the Potions classroom Mia stomped up to her dormitory missing the equally annoyed looks Ron and Harry shot at her back, and launched herself onto her four poster bed. Hermione was sitting propped up against her headboard reading. 

“Didn’t go well then?”, she asked, already resigned to the answer.

Mia smacked her face against her pillow several times before shaking her head. She mumbled something to Hermione, but with her face still buried in the pillow she wasn’t heard clearly.

“What?”, Hermione said.

“They’re acting like children” Mia shouted, louder than she intended to, garnering scathing looks from their roommates.

She shot back equally disgusted looks. They were in a  _ crisis, _ for Christ's sake.

She gave Hermione a look that meant  _ to be continued _ , and snapped her curtains shut, blocking out the light from the room and collapsing into sleep. 

  
  



	12. A Strange Decision and A Strange Discovery

The next few days passed without incident. Mia hadn’t melted any more cauldrons, although she wasn’t doing well in potions yet. She had still been on the receiving end of many of Professor Snape’s snide remarks, who was malicious as ever to her after her detention. 

She partnered with Hermione in the hopes that she would learn something from her prowess, with no such luck. This also served as an attempt to get Harry and Ron to quit behaving like Doxies, although it didn’t work. They simply partnered with the other limited Gryffindors in their class, in a game Mia internally called Last One Gets Stuck With Neville. Harry was winning, two to one. 

The third time Hermione had to stop Mia from completely ruining their potion in the same amount of steps, she sighed, defeated. 

Malfoy’s offer was ringing around her head side by side with his sneering mouth curled around the word Mudblood. Frustrated and confused, she ended up telling Hermione about it.

“Mia, God you know i would help you, but with all this stuff going on with Harry at the moment, I’m a bit buried”, she said. Her face looked torn between wanting to help her friend and her genuine fear for Harry. 

Mia rushed to calm her fears, “‘Mione, of course I know. Helping Harry in a historically murderous tournament is a bit more urgent than my dismal potions marks”, she joked, trying to alleviate her worry. 

“I just don’t want you to feel like he’s the only option, but he might be your best”, Hermione sighed, and they both grimaced at that thought. 

“Just be careful if you go through with it. He’s dangerous and he’s proved he’s not a good person, even if he is  _ alright  _ at potions”.

“Miss Diggory, Miss Granger, less chatting and more chopping. Five points from Gryffindor”, Snape snapped.

Fuming, she locked eyes with Hermione and gave her a sharp nod, having chosen her path of action.

Mia lingered at her desk packing up her things slowly and waving Hermione off. When she looked across the room, she found Malfoy already watching her and she gestured subtly towards the door, hoping he got the message. He did, with a quick excuse to his friends, he went to talk to Snape. 

Mia didn’t have to wait very long in the corridor. 

Their shoes hitting the cobblestone floors echoed around them in the silence until Mia finally gathered the courage to break it. 

“I have decided to take you up on your offer on the basis of a few conditions”, Mia said, with conviction.

“I’d be doing you a favour, Diggory, I don’t need to listen to your conditions”, Malfoy smirked his signature smirk and it only made her mad. 

Mia narrowed her eyes at him and he relented, hands in the air.

“What are they then?”, he drawled.

“One, you will not insult my friends”. 

His face was carefully blank.

“Or me for that matter”, she added, as an afterthought. 

He snickered, and she smacked his arm. 

“Two, you  _ will _ make sure i get at least an Exceeds Expectations on the final exam”. 

Malfoy looked completely aghast but his tone was teasing, “From a Troll to Exceeds Expectations, that's impossible Diggory. You have too much faith in me”. 

“I got an Acceptable on the last essay thank you very much, and it’s definitely because Snape’s got it out for me now. My theory is perfect,” Mia protested in a huff.

“Yes well, you did go full Gryffindor on him, it was quite impressive”.

“What do you mean, _full Gryffindor?_ ”, Mia asked, suspiciously.

“It was just very  _ brave,  _ is all. As is the supposed trademark of Gryffindor”. 

She turned to unleash her exasperation at his dig, but his face held genuine, albeit reluctant awe and she preened at the praise instead.

“So, is that it then?”, Malfoy asked a small smile on his face.

“Condition number three... is that you can’t fall in love with me”, Mia grinned. 

He blushed, confused.

“What? Why would I?”, he stuttered.

Mia, who had rarely seen him anything other than perfectly articulate, giggled.

“It’s a  _ muggle _ thing Malfoy, you wouldn’t understand”. 

“I can understand anything a  _ muggle _ can”, he said, his face a cross between embarrassment and indignation. 

“That’s all of the conditions”, Mia said, almost shaking from holding back her laughter.

When she held out her hand for him to shake, Malfoy stared at it for a second too long before clasping their hands together.

“Alright then Diggory. Library. Tomorrow. After lunch. Don’t be late”, he said in clipped tones, before dropping her hand and stalking around the corner, discomfort still evident in his posture.

Mia found that she enjoyed the gentle teasing friendship she had cultivated with Malfoy, and realised that somehow, she left every conversation with him feeling lighter than she had before. 

Confused about the opposing sides of Malfoy’s personality, Mia struggled to sleep that night, thoughts swirling around her mind. She had accepted Draco’s lessons, but she went over Hermione’s warning in her head over and over again. Trying to connect the two different people he was in private and in front of his housemates in her mind proved to be difficult, not to mention Mia couldn’t picture prim and proper Malfoy’s bite being any worse than his bark. 

She decided to heed Hermione’s warning even though she thought she could handle herself just fine. Malfoy wasn’t the only worry rattling around her mind. To make matters worse, Cedric  _ and  _ Harry were both about to enter the most dangerous tournament that Hogwarts had ever held. 

She worked herself up into such a state of stress that tiredness simply evaded her. She heard movement far outside her door, and could tell that someone was still awake in the common room. Sneaking a look at Hermione and finding that she was still asleep, Mia left her dormitory to explore the disturbance. 

Standing at the entrance to the common room, Mia realised it was Harry, speaking into the fire to someone. Without meaning to, Mia was eavesdropping on his conversation, simply too sleep deprived to notice. Harry was yet to notice her, talking frantically with the person in the fire. Mia took pity on him, knowing that if she was stressed, Harry must be feeling even more so. She stirred awake from her stupor as she heard Harry call the name of who he was speaking to. 

“Sirius - ”, he sounded as though he was pleading.

Sirius? Sirius Black? The mass murderer who escaped Azkaban? Another Sirius? No, Mia, what other Sirius would it be? Her internal debate raged on in silence.

Out of surprise, and slight fear, Mia moved further back from the entrance into the shadows. A sound coming from the boy’s dormitory made her jump slightly. She backed up further. 

Ron walked past her without seeing her. His maroon pyjamas were too short for him, significantly above his ankle. Feeling as though she should move but barely daring to, Mia stood in silence, as completely still as she could. 

Mia was unsure of how a conversation between Ron and Harry would go, but more so she was incredibly unsure of whether Hermione had been right about Harry. Consorting with a known criminal, who had helped Voldemort all those years ago? 

Harry and Ron were suddenly yelling at each other, and Mia realised she had not moved from the shadows. Apart from feeling as though she was  _ incredibly  _ creepy, she felt bad for still being in the room. She should have left ages ago. She should never have found out about Sirius in the first place. 

A ‘Potter Stinks’ badge went flying across the room and hit Ron on the forehead. 

“There you go”, Harry said nastily, “Something for you to wear on Tuesday. You might even have a scar now, if you’re lucky. That's what you want, isn’t it?”.

Harry strode across the room and passed Mia. She could sense how enraged he was, and made a note to never mention that she had been here. Ron sunk into an armchair facing the fire. This was her chance to leave, to pretend she had never witnessed this. Ron dropped his head into his hands, and sighed. 

Mia found her legs pushing her forward. The floor creaked underneath her. Ron made a slight movement, as though he was about to look up. 

“Ron?”, Mia said softly. 

He turned around to face her. 

“You heard that, huh?”, he said quietly, turning around again. 

She walked across to him and sat in front of the fire, facing him. 

“Ron...”, she began. 

“I know,” He cut her off. “I know he didn’t put his name in”. 

He seemed defeated.

“Okay,” she said slowly. “What’s wrong, then?”.

Ron was frustrated, she could tell, like he had been ever since Harry’s name came out of the Goblet. It seemed that even with all the time passed he hadn’t managed to make sense of his emotions.

“Everything just  _ happens _ to him, you know?”. 

“That’s not always a good thing,” Mia reminded him. “And _ most _ of it isn’t his fault. After all, this whole ‘ _ Boy Who Lived’  _ thing started when he was a baby”. 

“I  _ know, _ ” Ron said. “Believe me, I know better than anyone. It just doesn’t feel … fair”. 

He paused on the last word, as though ashamed the word was even coming out of his mouth.

“You need some time,” Mia sighed. “I get that. But Harry needs you”. 

Ron stayed silent, staring past her into the fire. 

“And you need  _ him _ ”, Mia continued, despite her intuition telling her to stop. “I’ve seen you. You’ve been miserable without him”. 

“Seamus and Dean aren’t that bad”, Ron smiled.

“Yeah, well. They’re not Harry',' Mia said. “They didn’t even laugh at your joke about Blast-Ended Skrewts at dinner the other night”. 

“Right?!”, Ron exclaimed, laughing. “And I gotta admit, that was one of my better ones”.

“It really was!”. 

“Alright”, Ron said, looking somewhat defeated. “I guess I’ve noticed his absence a  _ tiny  _ bit”. 

“Yeah, cause he would have laughed at that joke”. 

“He might have. Then I wouldn’t have had to explain it three times over, at least”, Ron looked reflective, as if he missed having the chance to tell Harry his joke. 

“You’re not wrong to feel like this, Ron”, Mia said. “I get it. I’ve just arrived, I don't even know where I fit in a group that's been going for four years without me. And then all of a sudden I’m just the Champion’s little sister. People call out at me and they don’t even know my name! It’s like I don’t have my own value, and most of the time it sucks”.

Ron looked up at her, smiling empathetically. 

“But being friends with someone like Harry, or Cedric, that is so loyal and selfless, means that the friendship is worth more than the trouble it brings”, Mia continued. “And Harry’s jokes are  _ so  _ much worse than yours so you really need someone to make yours seem better”. 

Ron laughed, “You’re probably right”. 

There was a long pause between them, both lost in thought. 

Mia was unsure of how to bring up the mass murdering lunatic with any sort of decorum and more or less just blurted out, “Why was Harry talking to Sirius Black?”.

Ron’s rapidly paling face was all the confirmation she needed that her hunch was correct.

“Mia, how? Look... don’t assume...you don’t get it... he’s not a bad person”, Ron finished eventually.

Incredulous, but quite aware of the time she whispered furiously, “Not a bad person! He killed twelve people!  _ Twelve, _ Ron”.

“No, he didn’t. He was framed”, Ron spoke, looking extremely uncomfortable with this conversation, even more so than speaking about his problems with Harry, which she didn’t think was possible.

“Mia, it isn’t really my place to say. But he’s Harry’s godfather and the only family he’s really got left, besides us of course. You can’t tell anyone.  _ Please _ , we figured it all out last year. We can tell you the whole story later, just don’t say anything, to anyone. I promise you, _ he isn’t a mass murderer _ ”. 

Mia stayed quiet, processing this information and deciding whether or not to believe it. She thought about how Harry would be under even more stress than she was. She assumed that Harry confiding in his godfather should be a dead giveaway that his godfather wouldn’t put them in harm's way, even if that godfather was Sirius Black. Eventually she just nodded. 

“It’s pretty late, we should probably go to bed'', she sighed, making to stand up.

Ron shot up, grabbing Mia by the shoulders.

“You’re not going to tell anyone, are you?”, he said frantically. 

Mia smiled and placed a comforting hand against his forearm, “No Ron, I believe you”. 

Ron took a big breath, releasing some of the tension from his shoulders.

“See,” Mia said, happily. “That’s  _ loyalty, _ ” grinning at his scrunched up face. 

“It’s not going to happen overnight for me'', Ron sniffed. “But I’ll probably talk to Harry soon, see if he forgives me, I guess”. 

“He will”, Mia smiled. 

She had walked over to the entrance of the common room she had been hiding in before but turned when Ron spoke again.

“And by the way, you are so much more than just Cedric’s sister”.

Mia chuckled, “Thanks, Ron. See you tomorrow”.

  
  



	13. Draco Malfoy's Guide to Performing Perfectly in Potions

That morning Mia found out that being surrounded by three hormonal teenage boys with massive appetites could indeed dissuade her from eating, she vowed to never eat with Ron, Dean and Seamus together again.

Mia made her way to the library on her own, without getting lost at all, which she was exceptionally proud of. She found Malfoy sitting in the very back of the library, his white blonde head a beacon amongst the rows of books. The table he had chosen was secluded and tucked in a corner away from the eagle eyes of Madam Pince. 

“Nice of you to show up, Diggory”, he said. His voice was flat, causing Mia to roll her eyes.

He had several books about potions opened up on the table, and was scribbling onto a piece of parchment. It was a mess. Mia barely had any room to put her stuff down, unless it was on the floor. 

“You said  _ after  _ lunch Malfoy, and lunch isn’t even over yet. If anything I’m early and you’re just impatient”. 

“Malfoy’s are  _ not _ impatient”, he said as if he was remembering rules from a manual he was forced to abide by. 

“Come on, you need all the help you can get”, he patted the chair next to him and she flopped into it.

“How exactly is more theory going to help with my very  _ practical  _ potions problem?”, Mia questioned.

Draco slid over the piece of parchment he’d been writing on, it was a list entitled: Draco Malfoy’s Guide to Performing Perfectly in Potions.

She snorted as she read it:

  1. Always partner with the most proficient potion maker in class.
  2. Make sure said potion maker is able to prevent dire potions mishaps. 
  3. Perfectly understand potions theory to put into practice without panicking.
  4. Do not provoke prickly Professors.
  5. Avoid attracting Madam Pinces pointed peering at all costs.
  6. Partnering with Neville Longbottom has been prohibited.
  7. Prudish Gryffindor proclivities will be suspended in favour of sabotaging peers, if need be (precluding yours truly). 



He snatched the list away from her once she was done and replaced it with their potions textbook, opened to the potion they would be brewing next class. 

“Study it, memorise it, live by it”, he ordered.

She made a face at the textbook. It was a Wit Sharpening Potion, and Mia took it as a personal attack. 

She’d only gotten through a few sentences of the theory before Cedric came bursting through the stacks, out of breath.

“Evie!”, he whisper-shouted, skidding against the floor and catching himself on their desk, sending a few books and several pieces of parchment to the floor.

He was kneeling beside her attempting to catch his breath when he noticed Draco beside her. He gave Mia a confused look, although it was almost immediately overtaken by terror.

“Evie, they’re gonna set dragons on us.  _ Dragons _ ”. 

Mia was in shock before coming back down to help her hyperventilating brother.

“Dragons. Ced, are you sure? How do you know?”, Mia spoke rapidly.

“Harry told me”.

“Is he sure?”, she whispered, incredulous. 

“He’s sure. He  _ saw _ them”, Cedric replied shakily.

At this point, he had his face in his hands and was shaking.

“Ced, Ced! Look at me!”, she whispered, digging her hands into his shoulders.

“It’s fine, Ced you can do this. You were  _ chosen _ . You’re ready”.

Mia tried to comfort her brother, while simultaneously suppressing her terrified rage at a tournament sending her only brother to  _ fight a dragon _ .

“They wouldn’t do this if they didn’t think you were ready, Ced”, Mia said, but she wasn’t even sure she believed what she was saying.

Cedric was looking at her with a red face and pleading eyes, and she was transported to all the times she would look at him like that when they were younger, when she wanted her third ice cream of the day in the scorching summer months, or when their mother wouldn’t let them play outside in the snow, or when the other kids her age wouldn’t play hide and seek with her. 

Given these circumstances were much more dire, Mia still felt the need to make everything better, just like her brother used to do for her. Only thing was, she didn’t know how to. It was always Cedric making her feel better, not the other way around.

“You just need to make sure the fire breathing end is pointed away from you, Diggory”, Draco said matter of factly. “You know, the power of  _ distraction _ ”. 

“Malfoy, shut up”, Mia snapped her head over her shoulder glaring at Malfoy, before turning back to Cedric to say something more helpful, but he interrupted her.

“No, he’s right”, Cedric said, beginning to return to his normal self.

“He’s right”, he repeated, in a more certain voice.

“I’ve got a plan, Evie. Thanks, Malfoy”, he said almost reluctantly before kissing the top of Mia’s head and hurriedly rushing off just as rapidly as he had arrived.

“ _ Shut up, Malfoy”, _ Draco repeated mockingly. 

She rolled her eyes, still confused. And mostly, concerned. 

He snickered. 

“Why did he call you Evie?”, Malfoy said, jerking Mia out of her thoughts.

“Oh, er, long story”, Mia replied shaking her head, she found Malfoy looking at her expectantly and groaned. 

Bloody persistent prick.

“My grandmother's name was Evelyn”, Mia started.

“Are you secretly seventy years old trying to get the education you were deprived of as a child?”, Draco interrupted, joking.

She repressed a smile, but continued as if she hadn’t heard him.

“It’s my middle name, everyone used to call me Evie because i looked so much like her when she was younger”.

“So you killed your granddaughter and took her place so you could get the education you always wanted”. 

“When she died fighting in the first war, we stopped using it. It only comes up when someone is emotionally distressed, or really happy. Either way, I guess. It kind of slips out”. 

“Oh”, Draco’s voice was softer than she’d ever heard it.

“Yeah. Oh.”, Mia said. Time had healed the sadness that took over her family, but there was still a gaping hole in their hearts.

“That’s pretty... shit”, he said, shifting his gaze all around the quiet room. 

“It’s bloody awful”, she agreed.

“Well, at least your brother won’t die for the war effort, dragons will get him first”, Draco joked a little reluctantly.

Mia, despite herself, smiled.

“Power of distraction”, she said in a soft voice, smiling at Draco.

“Still not entirely convinced on whether or not you're actually Evelyn disguised as Mia”, he teased, Mia smacked his arm.


	14. The First Task

Mia woke up on the morning of the first task filled with anticipation. She found Cedric at breakfast, quietly attempting to eat while Jake chatted happily to the group. She bumped Ernie McMillan out of the way, who had been following Cedric around like a shadow, and sat next to Cedric. 

“Hey Champ”, she smiled. 

He smiled weakly.

“Come on, Cedric. It’s going to be great. You’ve got a plan, don’t you?”, Mia asked.

“Yeah”, Cedric said quietly. 

“I do”, he continued more resolutely. 

“Good. Of course. I knew you would”, Mia smiled, nudging him on the shoulder. “You’re gonna do great. You’ve got this, Ced”. 

She gave him a kind smile, and tried to look deeply into his eyes. He looked anxious, but strong. She just felt anxious. And maybe a little excited. She winked at him, trying to stir him into excitement. She didn’t want to seem stressed in front of him. She wanted him to think she had complete confidence in him. Which she did! 

Maybe not complete. 

She stood to get up, when Cedric grabbed her arm.

“Hey. You don’t know what Harry’s got planned, do you?”, he asked.

“No, I don’t. I think he’s been working it out with Hermione”, she said. “As long as you’ve got a plan, that’s all that matters”.

He smiled, “See you after?”. 

“See you after”, she grinned. 

The champions' situation put Mia in a bit of an internal struggle. She didn’t want to know what either of them were planning, she didn’t want to find herself caught in the middle of them.

he anticipation was clear in the air all morning. Classes flew by, even History of Magic and before she realised Mia was already at lunch, bidding farewell to an incredibly nervous looking Harry. 

“He’ll be fine”, Hermione assured Mia. “They both will”. 

They walked down to the grounds together with Ron, eventually finding Seamus, Dean and Neville in the crowd. Ron was looking nervous, but Mia decided not to pursue a conversation with him, leaving it   
to Hermione to sit with him.

Instead she sat next to Dean, who was looking at the golden egg between the rocks and coming up with wild theories about what they would be forced to do. Unwilling to indulge that she had already known about what was coming, and therefore Cedric did too, Mia simply laughed along with his theories, nervously tapping her foot on the ground. 

Ludo Bagman appeared in the stands, who Mia vaguely recognised from her father’s work, and introduced himself as the commentator. Rather like an overgrown child, Bagman simply bounced with excitement as he announced the challenge, champions must collect the golden egg which will be guarded by a dragon.

Dean almost jumped, completely elated with the prospect of a dragon. Mia reminded himself that as a Muggle-born, Dean probably had never seen a dragon before and she grinned at his excitement.   
Her grin faded as Bagman announced that Cedric would be first. 

She looked across at Dean, who squeezed her hand with a smile to calm her nerves. Her attention was diverted from Dean by the massive silver-blue dragon being hauled into the arena. There were several handlers pulling the Swedish Short Snout into place, it’s talons kicking up large amounts of dirt from the grounds. 

“Swedish Short Snouts can turn your bones to ash in seconds, Charlie told me”, said Ron and Mia froze up in fear.

Hermione jabbed her elbow into his side.

“Oh, don’t worry they’re the breed least known for killing humans”, he rushed to assuage her. 

“Thanks Ron, that makes me feel so much better”, Mia grit out.

“Oi look, there he is”, Ron said pointing into the arena, yelling at a redheaded figure that was completely dwarfed by the twenty foot dragon.

The handlers were well out of the way of the arena before the whistle blew, signalling the start of the task. Cedric appeared at the gap in the fence of the enclosure. His face was blank, but green.  
Fear built up in Mia’s heart, seeing her brother in such close proximity to the dragon. The crowd roared but Mia couldn’t make a noise. Cedric was frozen in shock. 

“Go, Cedric! Go!”, she shouted.

Something about the noise stirred Cedric out of his stupor and he disappeared behind a large boulder avoiding the dragon's gaze.

Mia could hardly breathe, as Cedric reappeared with his wand ready. Every time he went to make a move, the dragon lunged. Every time the dragon lunged, Mia’s heart stopped. A few times Cedric was no longer visible. Her fear was far beyond that which she knew when he was injured in their Quidditch games. The heat that amassed from the dragon’s fire hit her face and she winced as the fire reached Cedric. He patted the fire out of his robes, and kept evading the dragon. 

Yet, when the puppy that Cedric had transfigured from a rock lured the dragon away, Mia almost laughed. Of course Cedric had beaten a dragon with a puppy. Of course Cedric was capable of magic far beyond her comprehension. When he grabbed the egg, Mia was on her feet cheering so loud, she almost lost her voice. 

Dean jumped up next to her, and she pulled him into a wild hug. He looked taken aback, but obliged willingly. Hermione was hollering out in support and Mia didn’t stop jumping in excitement until Cedric was out of sight. She didn’t even say a goodbye to her friends as she bypassed them and ran down the stands. 

She found Cedric wincing in the first aid tent as Madam Pomfrey applied a thick ointment to his burned arm. 

“Ced!”, Mia exclaimed. “Are you alright?”.

Before Cedric could answer, Madam Pomfrey spoke.

“He’ll be just fine, Miss Diggory. Apply this ointment for me on his arm, will you dear? Injury after injury today”, she muttered, passing the ointment to Mia before turning to prepare another concoction. 

Cedric was grinning, “Did you see that, Mia? Wasn’t it epic. The way the dragon almost got me-”.

“Did get you”, Mia interrupted.

Cedric continued, “- almost got me bad. And the dog lured him away exactly as I had hoped”.

“Power of distraction”, Mia laughed, finally understanding.

“Power of distraction”, Cedric chuckled. 

“That was crazy cool Cedric. I knew you could do it, hey. I knew it”. 

Mia was so proud, she almost welled up into tears and instead distracted them both by continuing to apply the ointment on Cedric. His burns were healing almost instantly under the ointment, leaving only scars. 

Cedric continued his dramatic re-enactment of the events, as though Mia hadn’t witnessed it herself. Still, it was funny to hear of Cedric’s close evasion of the numerous times that the dragon attacked from his perspective. Mia was rather glad it was only his arm that was in pain, from her place in the stands it almost looked like his head had caught fire.

They listened on as Krum and Fleur battled their dragons, the sounds of the crowd informing them of who was beating who. 

“Wanna see Harry?”, Cedric asked, and led Mia to a small opening in another tent where they could witness it much closer than Mia had seen in the stands. 

“This is where they bought me in”, Cedric whispered.

Mia was slightly worried by how close they were, she could almost see the dragon’s fire burning them both. Her worries quickly transformed into different worries as Harry fought his dragon bravely. When Harry conjured a broomstick, Mia wasn’t surprised. Since she had been at Hogwarts, she had zoned out in many a conversation between Ron and Harry where they spent the entirety of dinner debating Quidditch tactics and games. And Hermione had already mentioned that Harry had been the youngest seeker in over a century. Mia and Cedric both cheered wildly as Harry made his way to the tent where they were waiting. Mia pulled him into a hug and Cedric and him shared an awkward rival-but-still-friends handshake. 

He was grinning and full of adrenaline, but Madam Pomfrey returned and ushered him to the first aid tent to check him over.

“Come on”, Cedric chuckled. “I’m surprised Madam Pomfrey hasn’t dragged me back to my bed by the ear yet”. 

Mia grinned and they walked back into the first aid tent.

Cedric had just sat down on the bed that his champion’s cubicle provided when Hermione darted into the tent, closely followed by Ron. Mia suppressed a smile at Ron’s pale face and walked over to join them.

“Harry! You were brilliant!”, Hermione squeaked out, clutching at the bed that Harry sat on. 

“You really were amazing”, Mia laughed.

Ron stepped forward. He was pale, and looked almost frightened as he spoke directly to Harry.

“Harry,” he said, very seriously, “whoever put your name in that goblet - I - I reckon they’re trying to do you in!”.

Mia wanted to laugh, but everyone else seemed solemn. She just held her breath instead. Harry’s face was unreadable. 

“Caught on, have you?”, Harry’s cold voice rang out.

Mia winced. Hermione looked nervous.

“Took you long enough”, he continued. 

Ron opened his mouth to say something, and then closed it. He didn’t know what to do. Mia stood frozen. 

“It’s okay,” Harry said, “Forget it”. 

“No”, said Ron, “I shouldn’t’ve -”.

“Forget it”, Harry said.

Mia watched incredulously as the two simply grinned at each other. Hermione looked over to Mia in complete and utter disbelief. And then she burst into tears. 

“Oh, Hermione”, Mia rushed forward. Hermione had been at breaking point of stress for a while now.

“There’s nothing to cry about!”, Harry remarked, completely bewildered.

“You two are so stupid!”, Hermione shouted.

Mia wrapped her arm around Hermione’s shoulder and nodded, “Absolutely ludicrous”, she agreed.


	15. An Unbelievable Argument With A Flamboyant Reporter

Still bouncing with every step from giddiness, Mia walked up with Dean and Seamus to the common room, after having said goodbye to Cedric and having lost track of where Harry, Ron and Hermione had gone. She grinned at the idea of Ron and Harry making up so quickly, although she knew it was a long time coming. 

Somehow, Fred and George had beaten them to the common room, arms packed with cakes and treats, while Lee Jordan was intensely opening a packet of Filibuster’s Fireworks. 

Fred chucked a cake at Mia, who caught it and grinned appreciatively. 

“Hogwarts champions all round, hey?” Fred laughed. 

They walked past her to the door, “We’ll be back with some drinks,” George winked. 

“Where do they even get this stuff?” Mia questioned, investigating the cake before deciding to eat it. Ron had warned her of the tricks that Fred and George played often.

“K’chens, I guess”, Seamus got out, a half-masticated cake in his mouth.

Dean was leaning over a banner, concentrating intently on decorating it. He looked up when Mia approached and shot her a grin. Mia settled herself comfortably in an armchair, letting the day wash over her. She was unbelievably proud of both Cedric and Harry. And Ron. For completely different reasons. 

Her fears seemed to diminish. She knew Cedric was ready. It was his turn to prove himself. And she just had to let him. She still felt some sense of protection over him, although he was grown and so deeply independent. 

Neville flopped down on a chair next to her.

“Cedric did so well today”, he remarked.

“Didn’t he?”, she sighed wistfully. “So what would you have done if you had faced the dragon, Neville?”.

“Cried”, he stated simply.

Mia laughed, and had to agree. Despite her brave Gryffindor status, she didn’t think she could possibly have handled the situation as well as Harry or Cedric.

She hadn’t noticed how much time had passed chatting happily with Neville, until Fred and George returned with flagons of pumpkin juice and butterbeer, and she noticed that the common room had filled up slowly. 

“Ready!”, they said in unison. Mia simply didn’t know how they had managed to carry as much as they had and go undetected by teachers. 

“So are we”, called Seamus, holding up a banner that Dean had made, showing Harry on his firebolt. 

“You didn’t do anything”, Dean said, rolling his eyes.

“I helped you!”, Seamus said, as though it was obvious that his contribution had been great. 

Dean ignored him, and instead looked to Mia, “Help me put these up, Mia?”.

She nodded happily and went across, helping him put up the banner Seamus had displayed to them.

“Actually, wait a second”, she said.

Mia waved her wand over it, charming the picture to show Harry zooming around the Horntail’s head. Dean beamed across at her, flashing a thumbs up. 

She burst out laughing when Dean nervously showed her one he had made of Cedric’s head on fire. He joined her laughter, although he looked scared as though she might change her mind on whether she found his drawing of her burnt brother entertaining. 

The common room exploded with cheers as Harry walked in, closely followed by Ron and Hermione. Harry grinned as the chorus of ‘champion’ filled the room, a very different atmosphere from that which he had experienced since his name had been called from the Goblet of Fire.

The three of them moved near the fire, and Mia joined them, sitting on the floor next to Hermione and taking some food. The Gryffindor’s crowded around Harry, urging him on to open the egg.  
Harry obliged with much enthusiasm from the crowd. Mia was unsure if she wanted to hear the clue from Harry, feeling like she might be betraying Cedric. Before she could decide, Harry opened it and a horrible screeching wail came out. 

The entire common room clapped their hands over their ears while Harry rushed to shut it. 

A shocked silence spread over the common room, once Harry managed to snap the egg shut, before they exploded with theories and ideas of what the wailing could mean.   
Harry looked perplexed, but mostly unbothered. He simply laughed at the reaction of Ron, who looked almost disgusted.

Mia couldn’t think of anything that the wailing could symbolise, but her attention was soon diverted by Neville turning into a large canary, unwillingly showcasing a product Fred and George had created and coined ‘Canary Creams’. 

For the first time in a long time, Mia seemed to forget about the fear and anxiety that appeared to have taken over her recently. She was finally enjoying her time at Hogwarts, free from worry. She spent the night laughing with her friends, drinking butterbeer and avoiding the canary creams. 

When Mia finally went to bed at around one in the morning, she felt elated, though tired. Hogwarts had been more than she expected in the best way possible. 

Somehow, she felt as though she had made closer friends in the last few weeks than the ones she had had in the past. A calm sense of peace washed over her.

She rolled over, closing her eyes and smiled into her pillow. 

*******

Care of Magical Creatures in the freezing December windchill made dealing with the skrewts harder than usual. 

The class stood around the ten surviving skrewts. Mia stood in between Dean and Seamus, the three of them looking proudly at the group. Chestburster was still among them, approaching six foot in length and tough as hell, the purple circular pattern on its hide differentiated him from the others.

“You’re looking at them as if it were your family Crup, Diggory”, Malfoy taunted. 

“Well, he is my first born, Malfoy”, Mia teased back, leaning over Dean to speak to him.

He rolled his eyes, mumbling something under his breath that Mia didn’t quite catch. She did, however, catch the look Pansy Parkinson was sending her way. It was the same look she had when they were handling Dragon Dung Fertiliser in Herbology. 

She raised her eyebrow at her questioningly but Pansy merely huffed and stomped away. Perplexed, she leant over Dean to face Draco again, but he had the same confused look on his face.  
Pansy had retreated at exactly the right time it seemed, because at that moment the skrewts, who were nailed into cushion lined crates to hibernate, decided they would rather not, thanks.

Hagrid yelling about not panicking was the background to the sound of the skrewts blasting out of their boxes. Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle hightailed it behind Pansy into Hagrid’s hut and barricaded the door. Mia remained behind with Dean and Seamus, attempting to wrangle the skrewts into submission. 

Along with Harry, Ron and Hermione they had managed to restrain nine of the skrewts, only Chestburster was left and he was approaching menacingly towards them.

“It’s alright, come on now”, Mia said, in what he hoped was a soothing tone but ended up sounding rather ragged.

“Yeah, come on you little bastard”, Seamus choked out, cradling his burnt fingers.

Dean was attempting to loop the rope around his stinger and almost had it when a startlingly high voice caused him to jerk and Chestburster to set off a blast and scramble away.

The blast sent a wayward bit of wood from the crates to go flying at top speed, grazing Dean's face before combusting.

Mia could hear Hagrid, Ron and Harry attempting to contain their skrewt, but she was preoccupied with Dean, whose cheek now held a deep slice. She tried to stop the bleeding with her sleeve. Dean grabbed the arm that was perched on his face. She looked at him, concerned. 

“Am I hurting you?”, she asked.

He was smiling, and shook his head. 

“What’s she doing here?”, Hermione was aghast. 

Mia turned around to look. A woman with a horrifically smug smirk was trekking towards them. 

Rita Skeeter had appeared, as if out of thin air at Hagrid’s fence. Mia had heard Harry mention how she was covering the Triwizard Tournament for the Daily Prophet, but had not yet seen her around the grounds. 

Rita’s appearance made Mia’s blood boil. She had read enough of Rita’s articles to know she was a nasty woman, especially when she reported on the Ministry Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, where her father worked. 

Dressed flamboyantly in a magenta cloak with a crocodile-skin handbag, she exuded an air of superiority. 

It appeared that along with her penchant for exaggeration, she also engaged in reporting frivolous, unsubstantiated lies as investigated truth. Just last month she had written a piece on the unwarranted obliviation of muggles proceeding the accidental containment error when transporting a clutch of Runespore infants. 

She had pinned the responsibility completely on her father, despite the uncontrollable circumstances and the single muggle that had been obliviated. Despite the fact that Skeeter had managed to gain access to classified ministry information, it wasn’t found to be explicitly unlawful, but Mia had felt slighted ever since. 

Rita had noticed Harry, and began interrogating him about Hagrid's lessons. Mia knew it was just a cover to make ridiculous accusations, and she found her anger bubbling up inside her, hearing the way she spoke to Hagrid as though he was an imbecile. She stepped forward without noticing, unsure of what she would even say. 

Rita’s eyes snapped over to Mia, and without giving Mia a chance to speak her shrill voice called out, “Is that little Miss Mia Diggory?”.

“Oh yes”, she continued. “Cedric’s told me all about you. His lovely little sister. And of course, I know your father and his important work for the Ministry”. 

Mia clenched her fists and snuck a look at Harry to see if she should respond, not wanting to make his problems with Rita worse. This did not go unnoticed by Rita. 

“Oh yes, I’ve realised recently that you’ve been so … friendly with the other Hogwarts champion. How long have you and Harry been so close? My readers would absolutely love to hear about it”. 

Mia’s heart started to pound in her chest. She took another step forward. 

“Oh, yes!”, Mia started, mocking Rita’s air of superiority. “I’m sure your readers would love to read even more of your despicable attempt at ‘journalism’”. 

She felt the anger rip through her body and she continued.

“Go ahead! Make up another story out of nothing, your readers won’t be surprised to read more absolute bullshit!”. 

Rita’s face contorted into a nasty smile. 

“I think it’s best if I leave”, she said, through pursed lips. “We wouldn’t want Miss Mia to lose her temper”.

She gave a small huff, adjusted her cloak and stalked back off to the castle. 

Harry stared incredulously at Mia, who suddenly felt uncomfortable at her outburst. She realised that the people cowering in Hagrid’s cabin had walked outside to see the confrontation. 

“That was bloody amazing”, Ron shouted, breaking the silence. 

“I can’t believe you did that!”, Harry roared with laughter. “That was incredible”. 

Mia laughed proudly as Dean shook her shoulders. She looked over at Hagrid’s hut and saw Draco smirking over at her, looking somewhat grudgingly impressed. Shooting a smile over at him, she returned to Hermione, who looked impressed, with that slight hint of worry that Hermione always had. 

Despite knowing that there might be a less than flattering article in the paper in the near future, Mia decided she would not let it affect her current mood. She had made the decision to fight back against Rita’s lies, whatever the ramifications.


	16. Christ, A Dance

Draco sat at the back of the class, copying the notes Professor McGonagall had put on the board. Transfiguring guinea fowls into guinea pigs had proved harder than he would’ve thought so he went back to the theory.

Frustrated, he ignored Goyle’s and Crabbe’s incessant grumbling and tried to concentrate. Mia’s tinkling laugh rang through the room, and Draco looked up from his notes to see her turning back from her table to talk to Finnigan and Thomas behind her. Rolling his eyes, he started writing again. No wonder she’s a menace at Potions, she’s always distracted in class, especially by Thomas.

Describe, with examples, the ways in which Transforming Spells must be adapted when performing Cross-Species Switches. 

He had just finished writing down the homework when Professor McGonagall finished reprimanding Potter and Weasley, and changed the subject to a topic that was completely unprecedented, completely different from Transfiguration. 

“The Yule Ball is approaching - a traditional part of the Triwizard Tournament and an opportunity for us to socialise with our foreign guests”, she announced.

Draco shot a sceptical look over at Blaise, who returned a grimace. 

Commotion burst out in the classroom, and Draco’s attention was once again diverted to Mia, in a fit of giggling with Granger. Granger was the living embodiment of arrogant intelligence and the sole reason his parents were bearing down on him so intensely to be better than a Muggleborn.  
Draco had been to many a traditional wizarding ceremony, and knew they were an utter drag, but his ambivalence was drowned out by the others' excitement.

“Dress robes will be worn”, Professor McGonagall continued. 

Draco could definitely pull off dress robes, he had several perfectly fit for formal wear in his trunk already, at the insistence of his mother. 

How one presents themselves is very important, Draco, his mother constantly reiterated. 

Professor McGonagall continued her lecture and he rested his chin on the palm of his hand lazily glancing around the room. His roaming eyes caught on Mia’s dark hair across the room again, and he was drawn to her enthusiasm. 

She threw her head back laughing at something Granger had whispered to her, the warm noise rang out into the room drowning out Professor McGonagall’s voice until it was the only thing he could hear. 

He smiled. 

The bell rang through the room, and Draco jumped as Blaise kicked his chair. 

“Come on, lover boy”, he said, rolling his eyes and picking up his bag. “Quit staring”. 

He frowned, creating lines on his forehead that he immediately smoothed out.

“I was not staring”, Draco argued. 

Blaise raised an eyebrow at him, and he realised that he’d given himself away.

“I mean, I was just looking at nothing, over there”, he stuttered, gesturing awkwardly at the other end of the classroom.

Blaise shook his head, giving Draco a sympathetic look. 

“You’re hopeless, mate”, he grinned. “Come on, let’s go to lunch”. 

…….

Draco never thought he’d be a saviour. No, he’d easily leave the heroics to Saint Potter, but when Mia attributed those words to him, he decided he liked them. 

“You’re a bloody saviour, Malfoy”, she huffed, still embarrassed from denying the burly fifth year Ravenclaw that had asked her out.

“Don’t want to go to the Yule Ball with Caldwell, then?”, he asked.

“God no, bet he’s only asking me because I’m Cedric’s sister or friends with Harry”, Mia scowled. So did he. 

“And there’s something wrong with getting a date because of your connections?”, Draco said, mostly to see her get all snippy with him.

He enjoyed pushing her buttons, seeing her let her guard down and argue with him, and to find out which lines he could and could not cross. 

She looked repulsed, “I have literally never spoken to him”. 

“So?”, he tried to keep a straight face but when she turned to him red faced and ready for a meltdown he relented, smirking.

It didn’t quite diffuse the situation.

“That’s the third stranger to ask me out this week! One of them even said he’d love to be in the company of Champions blood”. 

Mia looked at him with a disgusted look that he was sure he reflected before they burst into laughter. 

“What does that even mean?!”, Draco said, through a fit of laughter.

“I don’t know!”, Mia exclaimed, trying to catch her breath. “I didn’t know if he wanted to kill me or not”. 

They were still chuckling by the time they reached the Potions classroom.

“Ready to put my Perfect Plan into motion?”, Draco nudged as they stood side by side. 

Mia straightened up to her full height, still barely reaching his chin and brought her hand up to her forehead in some sort of strange salute, “Yes sir!”. 

The confusion must have shown on his face because she rolled her eyes.

“Another muggle thing, don’t worry”, she said, before dragging him into the lesson. 

They were still working on antidotes in class. This was something he didn’t feel ignorant about, unlike Mia’s muggle references that consistently went over his head.

He’d never met a pureblood quite like her, the extent of her knowledge of muggles made him feel inferior, but it was not something he was ever taught. With Snape’s warning that their antidotes would be tested at the end of the term, they began their potion. 

Between all the powdering and dicing they worked together in perfect order, their discussions about delegating tasks had thus far proven fruitful, Draco felt a little smug. When it came time to brew, she glanced at him seeking approval before she commenced the first step. 

Draco nodded in what he hoped was an encouraging manner, despite knowing it would be strained. Truth be told, he would much rather just complete the potion on his own. That way he’d know he was doing it correctly, he’d have everything in his control instead of being constantly on Mia Watch. 

But being on the receiving end of the pleased looks she sent his way every time she somehow managed to complete a step correctly had proven very easy to get used to and much harder to let go of. He enjoyed that for once he was good enough at something to be depended on. 

“No, wait”, he stopped Mia from adding another Mistletoe Berry into their mixture.

Frowning before looking over the recipe again, Mia said, “The instructions say two”.

“The colour is wrong, Unicorn Horn must’ve been old so it’s gonna take a little longer to dissolve”. 

Mia was looking at him, mouth slightly open, eyes wide in amazement. He’d never seen her look like that before. 

“How do you know that?”. 

“Practice, Diggory. You’ll get there”, he winked, and watched the pink flush spread across her cheeks.

Draco let the silence wash over them for a bit. 

“So, are you waiting for someone special or are you going to let the entire school ask you out to the Yule Ball?”, he asked, unsure why his palms were sweating. 

“Shh Malfoy, I still have to time the Berry perfectly or we’re ending up with a melted cauldron”, Mia spoke in an agitated tone.

Draco rolled his eyes and reached out to grab the hand that was tightly wrapped around the container of berries. The moment their hands made contact a shudder ran through him, Mia looked at him expectantly.

“Calm down Diggory. We practiced, theoretically, we can do this”, Draco said confidently.

“We just have to wait until it’s green”, he continued.

Mia squinted into the cauldron, “but it is green”. 

He sighed at her ignorance, “That’s not green, that’s puke coloured”. 

“What’s the difference, Malfoy?”, she was flustered and on the verge of panicking again.

Unsure of what to do, but hoping to curb a freakout, Draco scrambled to say something, anything, but then the potion changed colour. 

“That’s green, Diggory”, he said matter of factly. 

Quickly, Mia put in the second Mistletoe Berry, stirred the cauldron twice, then Draco waved his wand over the brew in order to complete it and the potion turned into almost the correct shade of teal.

Mia frowned, “It’s wrong”. 

Draco snorted.

“Oh, so you can tell the difference between turquoise and teal but not between a good green and puke”.

“I can tell the difference between green very well, thank you very much. It’s my favourite colour! The best green is how the Forbidden Forest looks just past sunset and that - puke colour - is the worst”. 

Draco raised his eyebrow at that and continued in a mocking tone, “Shouldn’t a Gryffindors favourite colour be a dashing, daring shade of red?”. 

Mia rolled her eyes, “My house doesn't determine everything about me, Malfoy. Green isn’t just for Slytherins and red isn’t just for Gryffindors”

Draco laughed, “The only red I like is the blood of my enemies”. 

She jammed her elbow into his rib and he yelped, jumping away from the offending appendage. She had made quite a habit of jokingly nudging him, however, raised surrounded by pureblood etiquette, he had never been on the receiving end of such uncivilised behaviour. 

He caught Mia staring disappointedly into their cauldron.

“It’s fine, Diggory. We did it mostly. We’ll get it right next time”, he said rubbing his sore rib.

Professor Snape stalked over to them, looking over the cauldron they shared. For perhaps the first time since Mia had joined their class, he hesitated to insult her brew and instead simply walked away.

Mia beamed at Draco. 

The bell rang prompting him to action, but Mia who had never looked anything but frazzled in potions since the first lesson was looking at him with an expression he hadn’t seen directed at him before. 

“Thanks Malfoy”, she said, with a softer smile, a genuine smile. 

Draco shrugged it off and busied himself cleaning up the mess leftover from preparing the ingredients.

She placed a hand on his arm, stopping him, “Really, Draco. When I wasn’t panicking it was almost nice, you know, to make something.” 

“No problem, Diggory. You’ll be at an Exceeds Expectations before you know it”.

She grinned openly at him before shoving her textbook in her bag haphazardly making Draco cringe. 

“Your Performing Perfectly in Potions Guide really worked. Who would’ve thought, eh?”, she sighed. 

He shook his head at her and snickered quietly. 

“Of course it worked, I made it”, he said without his usual amount of snark, put off balance by the look on her face.

“See you next week?”, she questioned.

Draco nodded immediately then cursed himself for being so eager, Mia smiled mischievously at him and traipsed out of the classroom to catch up to Granger.

Only once she’d disappeared completely out the door did Draco realise she had left him to finish cleaning up their station by himself. 

Looking at the mess on the table in despair, he let out a big sigh and then, the corners of his mouth turned up. 

Blaise caught his eye and gave him a knowing look, this spurred Draco on to pack everything away quickly and vigilantly not look at Blaise as he left the room. 

*******

“So, are you excited about all this Yule Ball stuff?”, Blaise asked, sitting across from Draco at dinner. 

“Haven’t given it much thought”, Draco lied easily. 

In reality, he hadn’t stopped thinking about it since the morning McGonagall had announced it. Not too much about the actual ball intrigued him, to be honest. He had been to his fair share of formal events, accompanying his parents and always finding them extraordinarily mundane.

He thought of the possibility of this one being different, being better. He’d be with his friends not surrounded by a bunch of stuffy old wizards only interested in his father's connections. And of course, he might invite someone to go with him. Maybe. 

“Uh huh”, Blaise replied, clearly not buying it. 

“Are you taking anyone, then?”, Draco asked, trying to avoid Blaise’s gaze. 

“Mm, not sure who yet. I think Chloe Edwards keeps eyeing me, though”. 

Draco snorted, “Yeah, I’m sure she is.'' 

Chloe Edwards was a fifth year Slytherin, who was most likely taller than Blaise, and as far as Draco knew, had no idea of his existence. 

“Of course, Slytherin isn’t really your taste is it, Draco?”, Blaise teased. “I daresay you’re looking for another type of girl?”. 

Draco ignored this comment, shoveling a piece of steak and kidney pie into his mouth as Blaise was distracted by the arrival of Chloe Edwards into the Great Hall. He knew Blaise was just riling him up, but still his eyes flickered over to Mia. 

She was laughing again, this time at something Weasley had done. Their acquaintance had blossomed into something resembling friendship ever since the first Remedial Potions lesson. She had even called him Draco today and thanked him. They had even laughed together at the daft Ravenclaw. 

Despite being unsure of whether he should have even offered lessons to her, their friendship became something Draco had subconsciously started relying on more and more, finding their lessons almost like a solace from the constant buzz of Hogwarts. Some part of him, however small, had started to actually look forward to their lessons.

Mia tucked the front of her hair behind her ears, in a move Draco liked to call the Double Tuck. She constantly did it, when she was nervous about potions, when she was laughing, when she was diligently scribbling notes in class. It was ridiculously annoying, as were all her other habits. The incessant foot tapping, the constant singing, the -

“Oi”, Blaise interrupted his train of thought.

“Earth to Draco,” he said, waving his hand in front of his face, “As I was saying, I don’t know if I should ask Chloe out in front of her friends or not”. 

“Honestly, I’m not sure if it’ll affect your chances too much, lover boy”, Draco chuckled.

Pansy walked over to them, interrupting their conversation and sitting herself next to Draco. 

“What’s happening, boys?”, Pansy’s squeaky voice called out. 

“Just discussing who Draco’s going to invite to the Yule Ball”, Blaise immediately responded.

Draco scowled. 

“Of course you can’t just take anyone, Draco”, Pansy said sweetly, who’s eyes darted to Draco at Blaise’s words.

She was right, of course. As a Malfoy, he had a certain reputation to uphold. It didn’t mean Draco liked it.

“That’s none of your business, Parkinson,” he sniffed, haughtily.

After all, Pansy wasn’t about to decide who he would take. A small part of him wished someone would, to ease the agitation he felt about this decision. 

He did not have notes on this subject, no leader to guide his way to a correct decision. 

He looked back at Mia one last time, who was deep in conversation with a gaggle of Gryffindors. Pushing his plate away from him, he stood up and nodded at Blaise, hoping he would be the only one to follow.


	17. The Proposal

Mia arrived at breakfast on Friday morning with Hermione to find Ron and Harry discussing finding dates for the ball with as much fear in their demeanor as though they were discussing how best to overpower a dragon. She shared a knowing look with Hermione, and started piling bacon and eggs onto her plate. Bidding Hermione farewell, she grabbed her plate and brought it across to the Hufflepuff table. 

She walked up to sit next to Cedric, who was concentrating on his plate while Jake had turned his back in an attempt to flirt with a seventh year Ravenclaw. 

“Don’t go bacon my heart, Melody”, Jake called across, at her retreating figure. 

He turned around with a dismayed look before he spotted Mia and immediately brightened. 

“Hey, pipsqueak!”. 

“What’s up, Grandpa?”.

“What d’ya say about going to the Yule Ball with this dashing young lad?”, Jake said, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

Mia mimed vomiting into her breakfast and shook her head, “No, thanks”. 

She grinned at his forlorn look and turned to Cedric, “So, have you asked anyone yet?”.

Jake knocked his shoulder into her, “He’s only going with bloody Cho Chang”.

“Am I supposed to know who that is?”, Mia asked.

“Cho. Chang. Probably the most popular girl in Ravenclaw. Fifth year. Seeker. Should I go on?”, Jake rolled his eyes. 

“Woooow”, Mia grinned. “Are you sure she wasn’t hit by a bludger?”.

Cedric grinned, unabashed. 

“So who are you going with, then?”, Cedric asked. 

“Definitely not Caldwell, if he tries to talk to me again I’ll get Ginny to teach me that Bat-Bogey Hex”. 

Cedric laughed as Jake muttered, “Bloody tosser”. 

Mia turned and realised Hermione had already left for Transfiguration. Not wanting to be on the receiving end of Professor McGonagall’s scolding, she gathered her things and said goodbye. 

Just outside of the classroom, she ran into Dean who was also bordering on being late. When they arrived they took the only desk left at the back of the classroom, hurriedly trying to blend in as the others unpacked their bags. 

The hour wasted away while Mia doodled absentmindedly on a piece of parchment and compared her accumulation of muggle movies she had watched with Dean. 

“Never watched it”, she said, shrugging.

“What?”, Dean exclaimed. “You’ve never seen King Kong?!”.

Mia shook her head, “It’s a giant gorilla being attacked by Americans, it doesn’t seem that exciting”. 

Dean stuttered breathlessly, as though in shock, “What? It’s a classic! It’s an adventure, it’s got one of the best visual effects”. 

Mia looked at him skeptically and grinned.

“If you say so”. 

“You’ve got to watch it,” Dean sighed wistfully, “It’s one of the best”. 

Mia returned to her drawing, still smiling.

“Maybe we could watch it during the holidays,” Dean suggested. 

“Yeah, that would be good”, Mia said. “I can’t guarantee that I’ll like it, though. I just don’t understand how they can make a movie that long about a giant gorilla”. 

Dean laughed, rolling his eyes as the bell rang. 

She started packing up her stuff into her bag when Dean pulled over the piece of parchment she had been drawing on. He smiled at the flowers she had drawn. 

“Roses”, he stated.

She shuffled uncomfortably under his gaze, “It’s not nearly as good as the ones you can draw”. 

“It’s not bad at all”, he said. “I can fix it up for you”. 

He picked up his bag and followed her out the door, still carrying the parchment. 

“I can’t believe Chestburster still lives on”, Dean laughed, nudging her shoulder, “I think we’re pretty good at co-parenting”. 

“I knew he was gonna be tough from the moment we christened him Chestburster”, Mia beamed proudly. 

She looked up at Dean, who was fidgeting with the parchment. He stopped very suddenly, when they had reached the corner of the courtyard and Mia almost crashed into him. 

“Christ!”, she yelped. 

He turned around to face her and offered her back the piece of parchment. 

“Hold it for me, will you?”, Dean asked.

She grabbed it, perplexed as to what she was supposed to be waiting for.

He waved his wand over the parchment, concentrating hard on it and she felt it transform in her hand. A white rose had appeared in the place of the parchment. It seemed to sparkle as she looked at it, the light reflecting the white reminded her of snow.

She looked up at him, but before she could do anything but stare in amazement, he spoke. 

“Mia”, he started, shakily. 

“Dean”, she responded, slightly confused. 

“I was just wondering,” he took a breath, evidently to steady himself and then continued, “if you wanted to go to the ball with me?”

Mia was smiling, slightly in shock. 

“I would love to,” she beamed up at him. 

She saw the unease disappear around him, he let out an exhale and grinned at her. Out of the corner of her eye, Mia saw Seamus smirking at them from across the courtyard talking rapidly with Neville, and she laughed.

“I think Seamus is waiting for you,” she pointed. 

“Er… yeah, I guess so”, he said awkwardly. “I should go. See you later?”. 

“See you later”, she smiled. 

…….

Mia was walking down to the Great Hall for dinner inattentively, still thinking about the white rose she had just taken to her dorm. Her heart swelled thinking about it, and she found herself daydreaming when she heard Hermione’s voice.

“Mia! Wait up!”, she ran up behind her and stopped breathlessly to talk to Mia. 

“What’s up?”, Mia asked, suddenly forgetting her news in the shock of Hermione’s eagerness. 

“Guess who just asked me to the ball?”, she almost squealed, in a very un-Hermioneish way. 

“Viktor!”, She continued, not giving Mia a chance to respond. 

“Hermione! What? Viktor? Viktor Krum?”, she gasped. 

“Viktor Krum!”, Hermione reiterated. 

“What?”, Mia repeated, unsure if she was missing something. “Have you ever spoken to the bloke?”.

Hermione finally seemed to have caught her breath. 

“Well, he’s been in the library every time I'm there for the past few weeks, and today he approached me and he said he’s been waiting for an opportunity to speak to me, but he’s been trying to pluck up the courage and he finally asked me”.

She said all this very fast, and Mia could barely catch up. 

“Hermione!”, she exclaimed breathlessly, pulling her into a crushing hug. “I’m so happy for you!”. 

She pulled away, for some reason feeling almost as though she might cry from elation. 

“Oh my god! I almost forgot! Dean asked me to go with him to the ball today”, Mia grinned. 

Hermione gasped, pulling Mia into another hug.

“That’s amazing! I mean, of course he did. He’s fancied you for ages”, She beamed. 

“What! Since when?”, Mia asked, shocked. 

Hermione waved her hands in the air for effect, “Ages”, she enunciated.

Their giggling stopped abruptly as they came across Ron, who was, from the looks of it, shouting at Beauxbatons Champion Fleur Delacour across the courtyard. 

They approached quickly, Ginny had already mitigated the situation, shouting a quick sorry at Fleurs back and was now maneuvering a shell shocked Ron towards the Common Room. Mia quirked an eyebrow at Cedric, who was chatting with Fleur at the time of the incident, but he simply shrugged and chuckled, bewildered. 

In the Common Room, they found Harry and Ron sitting around the fireplace, Ginny explained what had happened. The shouting Mia and Hermione had heard was in fact Ron asking Fleur out to the Ball.   
Ginny was fighting a laugh, trying to explain it and Mia caught herself smiling before turning it into a sympathetic look at Ron’s pathetic groan. 

“There, there, Ron”, she said, patting his arm gently, but he only groaned louder.

“Asking Cho didn’t go any better”, Harry’s voice had a distinct tone of gloom but his attempt to make Ron feel better worked, marginally. 

“Why didn’t you tell me she was going with Cedric before I went ahead and embarrassed myself?”, Harry asked Mia, his voice full of self pity.

Affronted, Mia said, “Oi! I didn't even know you liked her, how could I have told you?”.

Harry’s mouth fell open, “You knew he was going with her!”. 

“He only told me this morning”, Mia said, trying to sound remorseful as he dropped his head into his hands and mimicked Ron’s groan. 

Hermione bumped her shoulder against Harry’s, “S’alright Harry, you’ll find someone”. 

She couldn’t keep the happiness out of her voice, or face for that matter, so much so that Ron asked, “What’s got you in such a good mood?”. 

“Oh, nothing”, she said, airily before looking at Mia. They both broke into wide grins.

“We’ve been asked to the ball”, Mia said. 

“What!”, Ron and Harry squawked immediately. Ginny grinned.

“Who?”, Ron demanded, whipping his head back and forth between them, seemingly rendered to single syllables. 

“Mia’s been asked by Dean of course”, Hermione gloated and Mia brought her hands up to cover the blush on her cheeks, laughing as Ginny made cooing noises. 

“And how about you?”, Ron’s voice had gotten distinctly icy but Hermione simply rolled her eyes.

“I’m not telling”, she paused at Ron’s incredulous look before saying, “You’ll just make fun of me”. 

Ron huffed, clearly not believing her, “Come on, Mione you can go with one of us. We’ll look terrible arriving alone”.

Mia could see Hermione’s anger rising and she cut in.

“She just told you that someone already asked her Ron”, she spoke in hard tones to warn Ron not to press it. He, however, did not get the hint.

Ron only managed to utter the word “But-” before Hermione launched into a very aggressive scolding.

“Just because you don’t have the courage to ask anyone doesn’t mean somebody hasn’t already asked me”, she said shrilly. 

“It’s only gone and taken you three years to get your head out of your arse and realise I am a girl. Gee! I sure hope you don’t end up taking some troll to the ball, Ron, now that all the good ones have gone”. 

Hermione’s tone had changed from anger to biting sarcasm indicating that she did indeed hope Ron would end up taking an actual troll to the ball. Mia had to admit, it would be hilarious.

Hermione had stomped up to the dormitory, leaving the four of them in the wake of her explosion. 

“Well,” Mia said, getting up off the floor and dusting herself off ,“I’m off to bed too”. She could barely control the smile on her face.

Hermione’s rant had not lessened her elated mood in the slightest.

“It’s barely 7, Mia”, Harry tried to reason. 

“Ah. Yes. Well, lots to do tomorrow. Best to get an early night”, Mia said airily. “Ginny, would you like to join us?”. 

Ginny nodded and made to get up when Ron grabbed Mia’s arm. 

“Do you know who she’s going with?”, he groused.

“Yep”, Mia said with a pop, unable to stop smiling and consequently irritating Ron.

“Are you going to tell us?”, he asked, already resigned to the answer but trying his luck anyway.

Mia looked at Ginny and they smirked at each other before saying together, with a pop, 

“Nope”.


	18. Mrs Hemingway's Robes and Dresses

Mia and Hermione had coined the laughable affair The Incident and would bring it up regularly, to their great humour, and Ron’s eternal embarrassment. 

Mia nudged Hermione when Fleur walked past their table at breakfast one morning, forcing Ron to duck and hide, before emerging red-faced and glaring at them. Still snickering, Hermione and Mia arose from the table, to get a headstart on the rest with their Hogsmeade shopping. 

Mia had been desperately awaiting a chance to find a dress for the ball and get her Christmas presents sorted. Hermione, who had been trying her hardest to pretend that she was barely interested in attending the ball, was struggling more and more to hide her excitement. 

The snow crunched under their boots as they made their way down the Hogsmeade path. 

“Who do you think Harry and Ron will end up taking?”, Hermione asked.

“Each other,” Mia snorted. “I don’t know how many people are left at this point”. 

“They’re about as hopeless as each other”, Hermione laughed. 

She looked over at Mia, before stating nonchalantly, “I heard Malfoy’s taking Pansy”. 

“Pansy Parkinson?”, Mia gagged and let out a scathing laugh. “Somehow I thought Malfoy might have better taste than that”.

“They deserve each other”, Hermione said, with a distasteful look on her face. 

Mia was startled by how she didn’t agree with this, thinking to herself that Draco was more than he seemed. The Draco she had seen glimpses of was almost kind, much softer than he appeared. 

With the look on Hermione’s face, she was unwilling to express this opinion and instead buried it deep down inside her. 

They walked past Zonko’s and the Three Broomsticks, still setting up for early customers before the rush of Hogwarts students arrived. 

“There it is”, Mia nudged Hermione, pointing off into the distance “Mrs Hemingway’s Robes and Dresses”. 

Hermione smiled, but moved towards it somewhat reluctantly. 

“Come on” Mia couldn’t contain her happiness, beaming as she entered the store. 

It was warm and cosy, reminding her of her grandmother's house. An old woman walked towards them, kindness etched into the lines around her face. She smiled broadly seeing them enter, and grabbed Mia’s hands. 

“Let me look at you, sweetheart”, she cooed, moving her hands to steer Mia into a spin. 

“I’ve been hoping you two would come visit me shortly,” she sighed sweetly. “Miss Granger, accompany me, will you?”.

She showed Hermione to one of the racks on the side of the room. Hermione shot back a slightly frenzied glance at Mia, and then followed. 

“Come here, dear. Take a look at these, and let me know what you would be most comfortable in”.

Hermione nodded and started flipping through the racks. After a short look, she pulled out a plain light pink dress. The waist was cinched in by a small bow at the back. She shrugged at Mia, as though unsure of the dress but made her way to the change room pointed out by Mrs Hemingway. 

Mrs Hemingway went back to Mia, giving her a small wink as she returned and a proud smile. 

“I know exactly what to get for you, dear” she smiled knowingly. “But your friend, she’s a bit more unsure of herself. She needs a tiny bit more care”. 

Mrs Hemingway trailed her frail hands across the row of dresses with absolute certainty. 

“Tell me about your date, love”, she asked, humming as she browsed the aisles ahead of her, looking for something very particular.

“Oh, well” Mia started, uncertain. “Dean. He’s sweet, and kind and he’s an artist!”, she remarked, eagerly.

Mrs Hemingway laughed softly, still scanning the dresses with purpose, slowing periodically but not yet stopping. 

“He transfigured me a white rose when he asked, it's still sparkling”, Mia said excitedly. 

Mrs Hemmingway stopped abruptly, looking rather uncertain, her hand had grasped a long dress that was covered in reflective mirrors that intensely bounced the light around the room.

“Uh, but I wouldn't feel like myself in something too flashy, I think”, Mia hesitated politely.

Mrs Hemingway smiled again and continued humming reassuringly. 

“Don’t you worry, dear. I’ll find the perfect one for you. All my dresses are one of a kind and none of my customers ever leave without finding exactly what they were after”. 

“That’s perfect. Only, I’m not too sure of exactly what it is that I’m after,” Mia said nervously. Mrs Hemingway only continued scanning the dresses. 

The dress she pulled out made Mia gasp. 

“Wow”, Mia said softly, “It’s beautiful”. 

Mrs Hemingway smiled knowingly. 

In the dressing room Mia admired the dress, feeling most unlike herself, yet somehow she knew this was what she had been looking for. 

“Mia! I’m ready” Hermione called and she hurried to get the gown on and meet her friend outside, without a glance at her own reflection.

As soon as she emerged she was assaulted by the gaudy bow on Hermione's dress.

“Er…” Mia faltered unsure of what to say.

Hermione was looking at herself in the mirror, slightly dismayed but her eyes widened as she caught Mia in the reflection.

“Wow” she sighed.

Mia spun in a circle finally looking at herself in the mirror. She had never seen herself like this, looking so elegant. The deep colour of the dress complemented her skin tone perfectly and accentuated the grey colour of her eyes that had been passed down through her family. 

“You look beautiful” Hermione said wistfully and Mia smiled at her.

“I think I'm just going to get this one” she continued patting her pale pink gown, leaving Mia gaping at her. 

“Look Mione, it’s okay to want a pretty dress”. 

“But-”, she started and Mia cut her off.

“No buts, you are beautiful and you deserve a beautiful dress”. 

“Well, I don’t want anything outrageous,” Hermione said quietly. “Just maybe a bit more…feminine”.

“You mean romantic”, Mrs Hemingway swooned. “I’ve got just the thing!”, she said and dashed off. 

Hermione was ushered back into the dressing room with an abundance of fabric on a hanger. Mrs Hemingway winked at Mia before she disappeared once again.

“Mia, that dress is honestly amazing,” Hermione called from the dressing room. 

“We’ll stay here all day if we need to find the dress for you too, Mione” Mia smiled.

“No need” Mrs Hemingway called out, reappearing with a periwinkle blue dress in her hand. 

“Oh wow” Hermione gasped, taking in the dress before approaching it nervously. She ran her hands over the details of the dress before looking up at Mia almost giggling with elation. “This is the one”. 

Hermione and Mia stood side by side beaming in front of the mirror in their dresses. Mrs Hemingway was fluttering around them fussing with the cut and drape of their gowns, taking in the sides and pinning them in place, before spelling them to size. 

Before long they were finished and with a grateful goodbye, they left the store with their purchases.

Just as they stepped back out onto the path they heard a shrill giggle and saw Pansy Parkinson and a group of Slytherins looking over at them disdainfully.

“I wouldn’t be caught dead buying from a place such as Hemingways”, Pansy spat, her mocking laughter carried across to them.

Mia rolled her eyes and tucked her arm under Hermione’s and pulled her along. 

“Forget about them, come on. I need to get something for Ced”.

Walking arm in arm they approached Zonkos where they bumped into Harry and Ron walking out, Ron guiltily stashing various strange looking objects into his robe. 

“What are you two doing here?”, he shot accusatorily at them. 

“Shopping”, Mia said quickly, “What are you hiding in there?”. 

She craned her neck to try to get a look but Ron hid them further from view, while Harry tried to come up with a solution for their shady behaviour. 

“Last minute Christmas gifts?”, Harry suggested. 

“Shouldn’t you two be focusing more on getting dates for the ball, or at the very least, some dress robes?”, Hermione said snidely. She still hadn’t altogether forgiven Ron for this attitude upon hearing that she had secured herself a date. 

“Who are you going with?”, Ron blurted out.

She shot him a contemptuous look before saying “Right. Well, we must be going. Lots to do”. 

Hermione and Mia shared a grin before continuing past Zonko’s, leaving a confused Ron and a startled Harry in their wake. 

“So, what are you thinking of buying for Cedric?”, Hermione asked. 

Mia stopped suddenly, looking across the road at a seedy-looking tiny wizard who was rattling around an armful of silver symbols on chains. A large sign in front of him spelt out in misshapen words: 

AMULETS

Effective Against Werewolves, Dementors, Inferi, Evil Forces, Dark Spirits. 

She pointed across, showing Hermione. 

“That’s what I’m going to buy him. It’s perfect. '' She said almost breathlessly, stepping forward.

“Oh come on, you can’t be serious” Hermione laughed, stopping her from going any further. “You must know those absolutely don’t work at all. It’s just another form of trying to entertain and get money from the weak-minded - like Divination”. 

“It doesn’t have to work!” Mia said. “It’s the thought that counts”. 

Hermione sighed, looking exasperatedly at Mia. Despite her own reservations, she chose not to continue trying to dissuade her, recognising a lost cause when she saw one.


	19. Christmas Morning

Christmas morning came and Mia still had not sent Cedric his gift, instead choosing to seek him out at breakfast to wish him a happy Christmas. Looking around at her presents, it was clear Cedric had done the same thing, following their tradition.

Before she went to meet Cedric, Mia opened the presents at the foot of her bed, there were more than she expected.

She hadn’t realised how much a package from home would mean. She missed her parents enormously, especially today, on Christmas. She untied the red ribbon holding the box shut and the warm smell of home immediately engulfed her. They had sent her an array of her favourite sweets, socks, gloves and, incredibly, her favourite tea that her father had once brought her from a visit to Armenia for work. She held it up to her nose and inhaled the rich aroma. It almost made her tear up, how the taste reminded her of home. Underneath the sweets she found a scarf her mother had knitted for her, a red scarf patterned with gold. She immediately wrapped this around her neck and moved on to the next package.

Hermione had gotten her a collection of works by Jane Austen, which they had recently discovered was one of both their favourite muggle authors. Hermione shot her a big grin as she opened the gift Mia had gotten her, a biography on the life of Jane Austen.

From Ron, she received a journal, and on the first page was a crude drawing of herself winking and a flying banner that read Property of Mia Evelyn Diggory, it made her laugh. She chuckled at the thought of how Ron would feel about the charmed Viktor Krum bobblehead she had gotten him after the ball tonight.

Harry gifted her some fizzing whizbees and a packet of Droobles, and Neville had sent her Moondew seeds that she decided she would plant when she went home for the Summer.

The beautiful hand drawn wrapping paper on the next present she picked up could only have been from one person. Mia carefully unfolded wrapping paper with a face splitting grin, it revealed a muggle DVD of King Kong, the cover screamed at her in big golden letters; Extended Edition AND Bloopers.

Mia popped open the case and stuck on the inside was a bright yellow post it note and a message from Dean,

Your next gift will come tonight. Can’t wait to see you x

Mia snapped the case shut and hugged it to her chest, chuckling, then her eyes caught two remaining presents surrounded by a mess of wrapping paper. Gingerly placing the DVD on her bedside table, Mia dragged them towards her.

Who the two presents left at the foot of the bed were from was a mystery to Mia. She opened the vaguely lumpy one first and found a note from Mrs Weasley inside along with the best smelling fudge she’d ever encountered. She made a mental note to thank Ron as the fudge satiated her grumbling stomach. How kind his mother was, to send a present to someone she had not met.

She turned to the last present, Hermione still engrossed in the biography Mia had given her. She had barely opened the brown paper wrapping when she realised she knew exactly who this gift was from. Draco had given her a knitted scarf, softer and undoubtedly more expensive than anything she owned, patterned in a deep green. He had also pinned a note to the front of the scarf.

It's embedded with heating charms, so you can stop constantly shivering, seeing as you can barely stop even when it’s reasonable out.

Nice colour, don’t you think? I imagine it will go swell with your Gryffindor cloak? Make sure to save me a dance tonight, or I’ll poison your next brew. Only joking. Or am I? DM

She rolled her eyes and chuckled, making sure to hide the last present from Hermione by tucking it under her bed until she wore it. While she didn’t want to hide her friendship, she also didn’t want any unnecessarily uncomfortable questions.

Mia walked down to breakfast with Hermione who had been unwillingly prised from her book. She spotted Harry and Ron already seated, Ron’s new Chudley Cannons hat so vividly orange it was the first thing she saw. However, she went to Cedric first, excited to give him his present. He waved at her eagerly across the Great Hall, wearing a new yellow and black scarf emblazoned with the word Champion across the edge. She grinned and held up her own scarf for him to see.

Mia dissolved into a fit of giggles as she noticed Jake sitting next to her brother with a bright pink feathery scarf draped across his shoulders.

She sat down across from the pair, red faced.

“Are you satisfied with my humiliation?”, Jake pouted.

Mia faked an affronted look, “What! I thought it would make you more youthful”.

“Well, I think it makes you look ravishing!”, Cedric chimed in and they were laughing once more.

Jake simply huffed, throwing the scarf around his neck and continued to demolish his breakfast.

Still laughing, Mia turned to Cedric.

“Merry Christmas, Ced”, she held out the gift towards him. He pulled out his own lumpy gift from his cloak, and she tried not to laugh at his attempt at wrapping.

“Merry Christmas, Mia”.

She unfurled her present from the wrapping, unveiling a strange looking camera.

“It’s an old Muggle polaroid camera”, Ced explained. “But I’ve enchanted it so the photos are still magical”.

“That’s brilliant Ced!”, Mia exclaimed. She was in awe of how advanced his level of magic was, for only being a few years older than her.

Mia gestured to the gift Cedric had just opened.

“I know amulets are just make believe, but I added some protective enchantments, plus look! I made it yellow” she reasoned.

Cedric grinned, and immediately draped the amulet around his neck. He ran his fingers over the words Mia had painstakingly engraved on the back.

‘For my brother, the Champion. Love you always, your sister, Mia’ they said.

“I love it”.

Jake grabbed the camera out of Mia’s hands, inspecting it thoroughly before turning the lens on himself and snapping a photo.

The image of Jake in his pink scarf immortalised made Mia laugh, and she couldn’t contain her giggling as she tried to snatch back her camera.

Jake simply pointed the camera in their direction and proceeded to shout instructions at them, Cedric and Mia obliged, changing poses every time he moved the camera.

Laughing, Mia looked over at Hermione, who seemed to be waiting for her at the Gryffindor table. Halving the photos, she left a pile on the table for Cedric and gave him a quick hug before running to join Hermione.

“The boys are outside”, she motioned towards the door, and Mia followed.

Mia shivered at the thought of being outside, wondering why they might subject themselves to the torture of the cold. When she approached the door Ron raised a gloved hand to wave them over, his moment of distraction punished by a strong snowball to the face delivered by George.

Having grown up in a small family, Mia had never had a snowball fight like the one that ensued.

Mia managed to capture a few pictures of her snow covered friends before she was dragged into the fray herself.

Despite her best efforts to prolong the fun, Hermione dragged her out of the snow, towards the castle to get ready for the ball. She didn’t mind too much really, her mind was already wandering in excitement of her night with Dean that awaited her. When Hermione pulled her out of the midst of the fight to return to their dormitories to get ready, she left happily.

*******

Hermione stood in front of the mirror, desperately trying to tame the frizzy hair that surrounded her face. Frustrated, she threw her brush back onto the bed and looked at Mia, who returned a pitying look. Struck by a sudden thought, Mia ran over to her trunk and started rummaging through.

“What’s wrong, Mia?”, Hermione asked, confused at the suddenly aggressive expression on Mia’s face, who was rummaging through her trunk so desperately she barely heard Hermione speak.

“Ah!”, Mia squeaked. “Here we go!”

She straightened herself up and presented a small bottle to Hermione.

“Sleekeazy’s Hair Potion Guaranteed to tame any mane”, she sang out. “You just need two drops”.

The sceptical look fell off Hermione's face as she worked the product into her hair and turned into a smile.

“This is amazing Mia!”, she said looking at the smooth bun she had tied her hair back into.

Hermione turned after she caught a glimpse of Mia in the mirror, who was holding the sparkling white rose given to her by Dean.

The dress itself was magnificent, but Hermione thought it didn’t quite match the sparkling personality she knew and loved. She waved her wand over and Mia was mystified by the way sparkles seemed to shimmer down and arrange themselves neatly on her dress.

“Better?”, Hermione asked.

“Perfect”, Mia responded breathlessly, in awe of Hermione’s magical abilities.

Mia and Hermione got dressed with such excitement in the air that they could barely breathe. Ginny, who had been asked by Neville, was waiting for them in the common room. Parvati and Lavender had already gone to await their dates when Mia started to get nervous.

She stared at herself in the mirror, running her hands over the silk fabric, and sinking them into the pockets, which somehow seemed both boundless and weightless. The sparkles Hermione had charmed on reflected the light of the room and she turned from side to side in the mirror, watching the reflection glimmer. Hermione emerged from behind the curtains slowly, looking anxiously across at Mia.

“Hermione!”, Mia gasped.

The periwinkle blue of her tulle and lace dress perfectly complimented her eyes and the elegant knot her hair was twisted back into seemed to transform her into a new, unseen Hermione.

“Just wait ‘til Viktor sees you!”. Mia squealed, and Hermione grinned.

“Quickly”, Hermione whispered, although the smile still gave away her excitement. “Ginny will be waiting for us downstairs”.

Mia stowed her wand and her new camera into the pockets of her dress and followed Hermione down the stairs. The deserted common room made Mia realise how long they had spent getting ready.

Ginny greeted them happily, bouncing in her shoes. Mia quickly whipped out her camera, snapping photos of the three of them.

“We should go”, Hermione laughed. “I think we’re already late”.

Together, the three of them made their way through the halls.


End file.
